The US Pentagon ordered hundreds of Marines to Los Angeles and an additional 2,000 National Guard members on Monday to quell unrest that has led to a political stand-off between Washington and officials in the West Coast state.
Earlier in the day,California Governor Gavin Newsom threatened to sue US President Donald Trump for dispatching National Guard troops to America’s second-most populous city without state authorisation.
Chinese and Asian residents in the economically powerful state expressed concern amid fear that, having already suffered under Trump’s anti-immigrant policies, they could become victims of further collateral damage.
Protests broke out last week over sweeping US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the racially diverse state. Trump, who has made illegal immigration a prime focus of his presidency, ordered some 2,000 National Guard to Los Angeles over the weekend over the objections of Newsom and the city’s mayor Karen Bass, who have accused him of manufacturing a crisis.
Late Monday, the Pentagon announced that Trump was sending “an additional” 2,000 guardsmen “to support ICE & to enable federal law-enforcement officers to safely conduct their duties,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell posted on X. The extra contingent doubles the number of National Guard troops to 4,000.
The president on Monday also called up 700 members of the US Marine Corps. A statement by the US Northern Command said they were activated in the area to provide “adequate numbers of forces to provide continuous coverage of the area in support of the lead federal agency”.
