‘Another win for Los Angeles’: Trump’s National Guard experiment pulled from LA streets

Los Angeles is seeing a big reduction in military presence after the Pentagon announced it is canceling plans to send more National Guard troops to the city. This decision represents a major change from the federal government’s earlier approach to handling protests against ICE that spread across Los Angeles, which had led to a large number of military personnel being sent in.

City officials welcomed the news of the full withdrawal, according to Fox News. Mayor Bass called the removal of the extra troops “another win for Los Angeles” and said she would keep pushing until all troops were out of the city. She pointed out that these military members have families and jobs and could have been doing more important work, like responding to real emergencies or helping communities get ready for wildfire season, instead of guarding office buildings for months.

In the weeks after the initial deployment, some of the troops started to leave. Half of the National Guard members were pulled out about two weeks ago, and the Marines were ordered to leave a few days later. The Pentagon’s latest announcement means nearly all military personnel will be gone, with only 250 National Guard members staying in the city. Their only remaining job will be to protect federal workers and property.

The National Guard’s occupation of LA is ending

Governor Newsom agreed, saying, “The women and men of our military deserve more than to be used as props in the federal government’s propaganda machine.” He also said the president’s political strategy had been a mistake.

The federal government’s initial move brought around 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines to Los Angeles to manage riots that broke out in response to immigration raids. This large deployment happened even though state and local leaders strongly opposed it, saying the federal military presence was unnecessary and only made tensions worse.

Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass were among the loudest critics, arguing that sending in the troops made the unrest worse instead of calming it down. The deployment mostly focused on protecting federal buildings, especially an ICE office and a downtown detention center, and also involved federal agents getting help from the troops during immigration raids.

California leaders argued that using the military this way was just for show and a waste of military resources. Governor Newsom said he believed the military should not be used as part of a federal propaganda effort and that the administration’s actions had ultimately failed.

The disagreement between the state and federal government led to a legal fight. Governor Newsom filed a lawsuit to stop the federal deployment, claiming the administration broke the law by taking control of the National Guard and asking a judge to prevent the troops from assisting in immigration raids. A lower court first ruled in California’s favor, ordering the federal government to give control of the National Guard back to the governor. However, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later temporarily blocked that order, allowing the federal deployment to continue while the case moved forward.