Hundreds of people in Los Angeles have taken to the streets to protest coordinated immigration enforcement operations ordered by the Trump administration, which have sparked fear among immigrant communities across Southern California.
The demonstrations escalated into clashes with law enforcement, prompting President Donald Trump to deploy National Guard troops to Los Angeles — a move widely criticized by Democrats and embraced by lawmakers on the other side of the aisle. The situation has escalated further, with Trump now deploying hundreds of Marines to the city.
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, said the Trump administration's decision to send troops to Los Angeles is just "the tip of the iceberg" as immigration arrests continue across the country.
Speaking on CBS News' Face the Nation, Gonzales called the protests "tragic" and said he supported the administration's response.
"It's tragic to see what's happening in L.A. I spent 20 years in the military. I fought in two wars. I fought to give people the freedom to protest whatever the hell they want to," Gonzales said, as reported by The Hill.
"But what we're seeing in L.A. are not advocates," he continued. "We're seeing anarchists, and the president of the United States should absolutely put down the mob as soon as possible. But this is just the tip of the iceberg."
While many Democrats condemned Trump's decision, the president doubled down on Sunday, writing on Truth Social that Los Angeles would have been "completely obliterated" without the deployment of National Guard troops.
According to The Associated Press, about 1,000 National Guard members were already in Los Angeles under federal orders as of Monday. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the outlet the full deployment of 2,000 troops authorized by Trump is expected to be on the ground by the end of June 9.
Before Trump's decision to send troops to Southern California, the last time a president had activated a state's National Guard without a request from that state's governor was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson deployed troops to protect civil rights demonstrators in Alabama. The precedent was noted by Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, an independent law and policy organization.
During the interview, Gonzales said he believes protests against immigration raids will continue to spread across the country and warned they could escalate in the months ahead.
"What I'm worried about is this thing's going to escalate. It's not going to be just L.A. — it'll be cities all over the country as we continue to deport people," he said.
On Sunday evening, Trump described the protests as a "riot" and suggested he may deploy Marines and other troops to future demonstrations nationwide to ensure "law and order."
"The bar is what I think it is. I mean, if we see danger to our country and to our citizens, we'll be very, very strong in terms of law and order. It's about law and order," Trump said, according to NPR.
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