The Trump administration said it would scale down its military operation in Los Angeles with the removal of half of the national guard troops that were deployed to the area last month amid protests over the federal government’s mass immigration sweeps.
Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, ordered the release of 2,000 national guard troops, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday, significantly reducing the military presence in the city.
“Thanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding,” Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement. “As such, the Secretary has ordered the release of 2,000 California National Guardsmen from the federal protection mission.”
The deployment, which drew widespread outrage and condemnation, was initiated against the wishes of city leaders, including karen Bass, the mayor, and Gavin Newsom, California’s governor.
The president deployed the California national guard troops to Los Angeles in June to quell protests triggered by the administration’s large scale immigration crackdown. In late May demonstrators took to the streets in response to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents that had flooded the city, raiding workplaces and arresting people off the street.
Donald Trump soon called 4,000 national guard troops into federal service and also deployed about 700 US marines in order to protect federal property and personnel, the administration said. Newsom, who said the president’s actions amounted to illegal overreach and were unconstitutional, sued to stop the deployment.
A US appeals court allowed Trump to retain control of California’s national guard.
But his decision to send troops into Los Angeles prompted a national debate about the use of the military on US soil and inflamed political tension in the country’s second-most-populous city. Along with guarding federal buildings, military personnel accompanied immigration enforcement agents and other federal officials in the region.
The Pentagon had defended the deployment, saying safeguarding Ice agents ensures they can do their jobs.
The operations have upended life for many in the region, which has large immigrant population. One LA area mayor, a Marine veteran, described Ice activities in the area as a “campaign of domestic terror” and “psychological warfare” against residents.
Federal immigration authorities conducted mass arrests of immigrants, showing up at parks, car washes and farms, sometimes taking US citizens into custody. Last week a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to stop indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in seven California counties, including Los Angeles.
After the withdrawal of the 2,000 military personnel from Los Angeles, 2,000 national guard troops will remain in the city along with the roughly 700 marines.
