UPDATE: Following the protests that sparked President Trump to deploy 2,000 National Guard service members to Los Angeles, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer ordered President Donald Trump to return control of the California National Guard to California Governor Gavin Newsom on June 12, 2025, finding the deployment had exceeded the president’s authority. Seven days later, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted Judge Breyer’s ruling, arguing the reported violence against federal officers gave the president “a defensible rationale” for federalizing California’s National Guard. The appeals court ruling remained in effect as the Pentagon later announced it would withdraw 2,000 National Guard service members from Los Angeles, nearly half of the 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines that had been originally deployed there.
By the time Judge Breyer handed down his latest decision on December 10, 2025, declaring that the Trump administration lacked evidence to justify keeping California’s National Guard under federal control, only about 100 National Guard service members remained in California. California Governor Gavin Newsom supported Judge Breyer’s December ruling, welcoming an end to the Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard to California and the prospect of “National Guard service members being returned to state service.” Meanwhile, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson criticized Judge Breyer’s decision and argued the president acted lawfully. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the decision.
What Happened?
On June 6, 2025, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles, demanding an end to immigration raids. Los Angeles, home to one of the largest immigrant populations in the United States, is a central place for resistance to federal immigration action, employing many of their immigrants in the manufacturing and service sectors.
Workplace raids conducted in early June by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sparked unrest that rapidly developed into a large-scale protest. Operating under the Department of Homeland Security to enforce the federal immigration laws, ICE launched the raids targeting hubs of day labor, including warehouses, Home Depot, and garment factories. ICE arrested 118 immigrants during the first week of June, and on June 6 alone, there were 44 administrative arrests.
In response, confrontations intensified each passing day. While some demonstrators threw objects like rocks and fireworks, officers deployed crowd-control weapons, including tear gas and pepper balls, to disperse the protests. As the situation escalated, a clash between the Trump administration and the California state government emerged.
Catalyst: Federal Troop Deployment Without State Consent
On June 7, 2025, President Trump declared he would restore “law and order.” He quoted a statute of U.S. law designed to respond to foreign invasions, authorizing the deployment of at least 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles. However, Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass both publicly rejected the deployment, arguing that the lack of approval from California authorities would lead to further inflaming tensions rather than restoring peace.
A president has not deployed National Guard troops to a state without the consent of its government since 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect civil rights marchers. However, President Johnson acted to enforce constitutional protections of the First Amendment, while President Trump is leveraging troops to disperse protesters.
Trump Administration’s Immigration Policy
Since January 2025, the Trump administration has launched a campaign against illegal immigration, attempting to terminate birthright citizenship, suspending refugee admissions, and launching expansive travel bans. The signing of the Laken Riley Act in January 2025 mandated the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants arrested for specific crimes. After invoking the Alien Enemies Act, the president has also assumed the broad authority to apprehend, detain, and deport noncitizens deemed hostile during times of war or invasion. The Act’s invocation raised concerns about the limits of executive power outside of wartime, but the Trump administration doubled down on framing immigration as a dangerous “invasion.”
Intensified Partisanship: What Comes Next?
On June 9, 2025, the California state government filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s decision to deploy the National Guard without state approval. The same day, the Trump administration mobilized 700 Marines in California to join the National Guard members, escalating federal military force in response to civil unrest. President Trump called the protesters “animals” and suggested arresting Governor Newsom.
Los Angeles’ protesters do not stand alone nationally. On June 10, 2025, thousands gathered in Chicago and at least two dozen other cities. Without a deliberative and legally proper response from the White House to address public outrage, many fear that the protests and outrage will intensify and spread.
While many victims of the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, have criticized Trump’s aggressive response and inappropriate use of force in L.A., Republican commentators have aggressively accused Mayor Karen Bass and other Californian officials of siding with illegal immigrants and criminals.
As the situation unfolds, it is crucial to monitor the narratives and actions from both sides in determining the trajectory of this conflict.