California governor calls Trump National Guard deployment in LA unlawful
Members of the California National Guard stand outside the Edward R. Roybal federal building after their deployment by US President Donald Trump, in response to protests against immigration sweeps, in Los Angeles, California, June 8, 2025. REUTERS/ Mike Blake
LOS ANGELES - California National Guard troops were deployed to the streets of Los Angeles on Sunday to help quell a third day of protests over President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement, as the state's Democratic governor called their deployment unlawful.
National Guard troops were stationed around federal government buildings, as police and protesters clashed in separate demonstrations over federal immigration raids in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles police declared several rallies to be "unlawful assemblies" alleging that some protesters threw concrete, bottles and other objects at police. Several self-driving cars from Alphabet's Waymo were set ablaze on a downtown street on Sunday evening, video footage showed.
"Arrests are being initiated," the police department wrote in a post on social media. Los Angeles police deployed officers on horseback to attempt to control the crowds.
Demonstrators shouted "shame on you" at police and some appeared to throw objects, according to video. A group of protesters blocked the 101 Freeway, a major thoroughfare in downtown Los Angeles.
Groups of protesters, many carrying Mexican flags and signs denouncing US immigration authorities, gathered in several spots around the city. The Los Angeles branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation organized speakers outside of City Hall for an afternoon rally.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said he requested the Trump administration withdraw its order to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles County, calling it unlawful.
Newsom accused Trump of trying to manufacture a crisis and violating California's state sovereignty. "These are the acts of a dictator, not a President," he wrote in a post on X.
The White House disputed Newsom's characterization, saying in a statement that "everyone saw the chaos, violence and lawlessness."
Earlier, about a dozen National Guard members, along with Department of Homeland Security personnel, pushed back a group of demonstrators that amassed outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles, video showed.
US Northern Command said 300 members of the California National Guard had been deployed to three areas in the Los Angeles area. Their mission was limited to protecting federal personnel and property.
Trump in a social media post on Sunday, called the demonstrators "violent, insurrectionist mobs" and said he was directing his cabinet officers "to take all such action necessary" to stop what he called "riots."
Speaking to reporters in New Jersey, he threatened violence against demonstrators who spit on police or National Guard troops, saying "they spit, we hit." He did not cite any specific incidents.
"If we see danger to our country and to our citizens, it will be very, very strong in terms of law and order," Trump said.
The FBI offered a $50,000 reward for information on a suspect accused of throwing rocks at police vehicles in Paramount, injuring a federal officer.
Despite Trump's rhetoric about the demonstrations, he has not invoked the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that empowers a president to deploy the US military to suppress events like civil disorder. Asked on Sunday whether he was considering invoking the law, he replied "it depends on whether or not there's an insurrection."
'High alert'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned that the Pentagon was prepared to mobilize active-duty troops "if violence continues" in Los Angeles, saying the Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were "on high alert." US Northern Command said about 500 Marines were prepared to deploy if ordered.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed the Trump administration for inciting tensions by sending in the National Guard, but also condemned protesters who became violent.
"I don't want people to fall into the chaos that I believe is being created by the administration completely unnecessarily," Bass told reporters at a press conference.
Vanessa Cárdenas, the head of the immigration advocacy group America's Voice, accused the Trump administration of "trumping up an excuse to abuse power, and deliberately stoke and force confrontations around immigration."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that the National Guard would provide safety around buildings to people engaged in peaceful protest and to law enforcement.
Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the US-Mexico border, setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day. Census data suggests a significant part of the population in Democratic-run Los Angeles is Hispanic and foreign-born.
But the sweeping enforcement measures have also included people legally residing in the country, some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Sunday criticized the US government over the immigration raids and deployment of the National Guard.
"We do not agree with this way of addressing the immigration issue," Sheinbaum, who has sought to cultivate a positive relationship with Trump, said at a public event. "The phenomenon will not be addressed with raids or violence. It will be by sitting down and working on comprehensive reform."
Trump's justification
Trump's justification for the National Guard deployment cited a provision of Title 10 of the US Code on the Armed Forces. However, Title 10 also says the "orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the States."
It was not immediately clear if the president had the legal authority to deploy the National Guard without Newsom's order.
Title 10 allows for National Guard deployment by the federal government if there is "a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States." Those troops are only allowed to engage in limited activities and cannot undertake ordinary law enforcement activities.
Trump's memo says the troops will "temporarily protect ICE and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions, including the enforcement of Federal law, and to protect Federal property, at locations where protests against these functions are occurring or are likely to occur." -Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GMA Network
3 hours ago
- GMA Network
Trump warns protests at Army parade will be met with force
US President Donald Trump listens to questions in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., May 8, 2025. REUTERS/ Leah Millis/File photo WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump warned people on Tuesday against protesting at the weekend military parade in Washington marking the US Army's 250th anniversary. "For those people that want to protest, they're going to be met with very big force," Trump told reporters in the White House's Oval Office. Law enforcement agencies are preparing for hundreds of thousands of people to attend Saturday's parade, US Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Matt McCool said on Monday. McCool said thousands of agents, officers and specialists will be deployed from law enforcement agencies from across the country. The FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department have said there are no credible threats to the event. At least nine permits have been issued for protests on that day, a US Secret Service spokesperson said on Tuesday. In unscheduled Oval Office remarks, Trump discussed his decision to deploy 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles after protests erupted in response to federal immigration raids at workplaces there. Trump defended his decision to take that rare step and said troops were necessary to contain the unrest, despite objections from local and state officials that they were needed. Saturday's event, which will coincide with Trump's 79th birthday, includes an Army birthday festival on the National Mall and will culminate with a parade through the capital and an enlistment and re-enlistment ceremony presided over by the president. Nationwide protests on that day were being organized by a group called No Kings. "They've defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights and slashed our services," the group says on its website. "The corruption has gone too far. No thrones. No crowns. No kings." —Reuters
GMA Network
6 hours ago
- GMA Network
US, China reach deal to ease export curbs, keep tariff truce alive
LONDON - US and Chinese officials said on Tuesday they had agreed on a framework to put their trade truce back on track and remove China's export restrictions on rare earths while offering little sign of a durable resolution to longstanding trade differences. At the end of two days of intense negotiations in London, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters the framework deal puts "meat on the bones" of an agreement reached last month in Geneva to ease bilateral retaliatory tariffs that had reached crushing triple-digit levels. But the Geneva deal had faltered over China's continued curbs on critical minerals exports, prompting the Trump administration to respond with export controls of its own preventing shipments of semiconductor design software, chemicals and other technology goods to China. Lutnick said the agreement reached in London would remove some of the recent US export restrictions, but did not provide details after the talks concluded around midnight London time (2300 GMT). "We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between the two presidents," Lutnick said. "The idea is we're going to go back and speak to President Trump and make sure he approves it. They're going to go back and speak to President Xi and make sure he approves it, and if that is approved, we will then implement the framework." In a separate briefing, China's Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang also said a trade framework had been reached that would be taken back to US and Chinese leaders. "The two sides have, in principle, reached a framework for implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state during the phone call on June 5th and the consensus reached at the Geneva meeting," Li told reporters. The dispute may keep the Geneva agreement from unraveling over dueling export controls, but does little to resolve deep differences over Trump's unilateral tariffs and longstanding US complaints about China's state-led, export-driven economic model. The two sides left Geneva with fundamentally different views of the terms of that agreement and needed to be more specific on required actions, said Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center in Washington. "They are back to square one but that's much better than square zero," Lipsky added. The two sides have until August 10 to negotiate a more comprehensive agreement to ease trade tensions, or tariff rates will snap back from about 30% to 145% on the US side and from 10% to 125% on the Chinese side. Investors, who have been badly burned by trade turmoil before, offered a cautious response and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.2%. "The devil will be in the details, but the lack of reaction suggests this outcome was fully expected," said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone in Melbourne. "The details matter, especially around the degree of rare earths bound for the US, and the subsequent freedom for US-produced chips to head east, but for now as long as the headlines of talks between the two parties remain constructive, risk assets should remain supported." Resolving restrictions Lutnick said China's restrictions on exports of rare earth minerals and magnets to the US will be resolved as a "fundamental" part of the framework agreement. "Also, there were a number of measures the United States of America put on when those rare earths were not coming," Lutnick said. "You should expect those to come off, sort of as President Trump said, in a balanced way." US President Donald Trump's shifting tariff policies have roiled global markets, sparked congestion and confusion in major ports, and cost companies tens of billions of dollars in lost sales and higher costs. The World Bank on Tuesday slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by four-tenths of a percentage point to 2.3%, saying higher tariffs and heightened uncertainty posed a "significant headwind" for nearly all economies. But markets have made up much of the losses they endured after Trump unveiled his sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs in April, aided by the reset in Geneva between the world's two biggest economies. Phone call helped The second round of US-China talks was given a major boost by a rare phone call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, which Lutnick said provided directives that were merged with Geneva truce agreement. Customs data published on Monday showed that China's exports to the US plunged 34.5% in May, the sharpest drop since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. While the impact on US inflation and its jobs market has so far been muted, tariffs have hammered US business and household confidence and the dollar remains under pressure. Lutnick was joined by US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the London talks. Bessent departed hours before their conclusion to return to Washington to testify before Congress on Wednesday. China holds a near-monopoly on rare earth magnets, a crucial component in electric vehicle motors, and its decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets upended global supply chains. In May, the US responded by halting shipments of semiconductor design software and chemicals and aviation equipment, revoking export licenses that had been previously issued. Just after the framework deal was announced, a US appeals court allowed Trump's most sweeping tariffs to stay in effect while it reviews a lower court decision blocking them on grounds that they exceeded Trump's legal authority by imposing them. The decision keeps alive a key pressure point on China, Trump's currently suspended 34% "reciprocal" duties that had prompted swift tariff escalation. —Reuters
GMA Network
6 hours ago
- GMA Network
US Marines arrive in LA on Trump's orders as immigration protests persist
People hold signs and flags during a protest against federal immigration sweeps in downtown Los Angeles, California, US June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis LOS ANGELES - Hundreds of US Marines arrived in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday under orders from President Donald Trump, as the city's mayor declared a curfew for parts of the downtown area and police arrested 197 people in a fifth day of street protests. Trump has also activated 4,000 National Guard troops to quell protests in the city despite objections from California Governor Gavin Newsom that the deployments were unnecessary, illegal and politically motivated. The city has seen five days of public protests since the Trump administration launched a series of immigration raids on Friday, with police arresting 197 people on Tuesday and Mayor Karen Bass announcing a curfew for one square mile (2.5 square km) of downtown Los Angeles that will last several days. Even so, state and local officials have called Trump's response an extreme overreaction to mostly peaceful demonstrations. About 700 Marines were in a staging area in the Seal Beach area about 30 miles (50 km) south of Los Angeles, awaiting deployment to specific locations, a US official said. California's two senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, said in a joint statement that active-duty military personnel should only be mobilized domestically "during the most extreme circumstances, and these are not them." Trump, who has made the immigration crackdown his signature issue, used a speech honoring soldiers on Tuesday to defend his decision, telling soldiers at the Army base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina: "Generations of Army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness." "What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and on national sovereignty, carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags," Trump said, adding his administration would "liberate Los Angeles." Demonstrators have waved the flags of Mexico and other countries in solidarity for the migrants rounded in a series of intensifying raids. Homeland Security said Monday its Immigration and Customs Enforcement division had arrested 2,000 immigration offenders per day recently, far above the 311 daily average in fiscal year 2024 under former President Joe Biden Mayor says: Stop the raids Los Angeles mayor Bass emphasized at a press conference that unrest has been limited to a few downtown blocks and she drew a distinction between the majority of demonstrators protesting peacefully and a smaller number of agitators she blamed for violence and looting. She later told another briefing a curfew had been considered for several days but decided to impose one starting Tuesday night after 23 business were looted on Monday night. In what has become a ritual each afternoon, police on Tuesday started forcing demonstrators away from the streets outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where many detained migrants are held. Multiple groups of protesters meandered through downtown Los Angeles, monitored or followed by police armed with less lethal munitions. Police said they arrested 197 people, more than doubling the total number of arrests in the region since Saturday. Nearby business owners who were scrubbing off graffiti and sweeping up litter said they did not support the immigration raids and felt Trump's response was only fanning the flames. "I agree with what the protesters are defending - they're standing up for the Latino community," said Frank Chavez, 53, manager of an office building. "But there are a few carrying out vandalism and violence, and that must be stopped." Protests took place in other cities including Chicago, where police led at least two demonstrators away in handcuffs from a combative march through downtown. Other protesters shouted "Shame! Shame!" as officers took away detained demonstrators. Hundreds of people turned out for the evening protest, carrying signs with messages such as: "The people say ICE out" and "Immigrants made America." "Even if they send the police, or dogs or whatever, we're always going to be out here," said protester Marquise Howard, 24. More immigration raids The Marines do not have arrest authority and will protect federal property and personnel, according to military officials. There were approximately 2,100 Guard troops in greater Los Angeles on Tuesday, with more on the way, the official said. Newsom and the state sued Trump and the Defense Department on Monday, seeking to block the deployment of federal troops. California Attorney General Rob Bonta told Reuters the state was concerned about allowing federal troops to protect personnel, saying there was a risk that could violate a 1878 law that generally forbids the US military, including the National Guard, from taking part in civilian law enforcement. "The federal property part I understand - defending and protecting federal buildings," Bonta said. "But protecting personnel likely means accompanying ICE agents into communities and neighborhoods, and protecting functions could mean protecting the ICE function of enforcing the immigration law." US Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday posted photos on X of National Guard troops accompanying ICE officers on an immigration raid. Trump administration officials have vowed to redouble the immigration raids in response to the street protests. Marines are trained for conflicts around the world and used for rapid deployments in case of emergencies, such as threats to US embassies. Some units also learn riot and crowd control techniques. Trump has left open the possibility of invoking the centuries-old Insurrection Act, which would allow the military to take part directly in civilian law enforcement. —Reuters
