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Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are giving mixed reactions to President Trump’s move to deploy 2,000 National Guardsmen to Los Angeles in response to protests and riots over recent immigration raids.
Some shit you should know before you read: If you’re unaware, ICE has been conducting a large-scale immigration enforcement operation in Los Angeles, which sparked widespread protests over the weekend. Demonstrators flooded the streets after reports surfaced that some of those detained were individuals attending scheduled immigration hearings, fueling outrage and calls for accountability. While many of the protests remained peaceful, there were incidents of violence, including attacks on law enforcement officers, damage to police vehicles, and looting. In response, President Trump criticized what he described as “violent mobs” and blamed California’s leadership for allowing “lawlessness to fester,” targeting Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass. Newsom, however, condemned the president’s rhetoric and deployment of the National Guard as a political spectacle meant to inflame tensions rather than resolve them.
What’s going on now: Amid the members of the California National Guard now stationed across Los Angeles in response to the recent protests, lawmakers across the political spectrum are reacting to President Trump’s decision to deploy 2,000 Guardsmen without a formal request from the state. Senator James Lankford (R-OK) defended the move, stating on NBC’s Meet the Press, “What President Trump is trying to do is say, ‘This is not going to take weeks this time. We’re not going to allow this to spiral out of control.'” He dismissed concerns about federal overreach, arguing that “if someone violates the law, no matter what state they’re in, they’re in violation of a federal law, they should face consequences for that.”
Others, however, blasted the deployment as unnecessary and provocative. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) criticized the president’s actions as “hypocritical at best,” drawing a contrast to Trump’s inaction during January 6. “We are now at a point where we have a president who sat back and did nothing as people stormed our Capitol, viciously beat police… and then pardoned them. For the president to do this when it wasn’t requested, breaking with generations of tradition, is only going to incite the situation and make things worse.”
Representative Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA) echoed these concerns, warning on CNN’s State of the Union that “it’s going to escalate the situation.“ She added, “We haven’t asked for the help. We don’t need the help.”
Despite this, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned that “if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized.”
