LOS ANGELES IMMIGRATION PROTESTS, CIVIL UNREST FUEL CLASH BETWEEN GOVERNOR AND PRESIDENT

By Alexander J. Schorr

Photo: KTLA screenshot: flashbang deployed amid L.A. civil unrest at Los Angeles Sheriff's officer looks on

June 11, 2025 (Los Angeles) -- California sued the Trump administration this week over the President’s order to deploy 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles without the Governor's consent. California Governor Gavin Newsom has argued that the deployment is “an illegal act, an immoral act, [and] an unconstitutional act.”

A hearing is scheduled Thursday on the lawsuit, which was filed before Trump also ordered 700 Marines deployed protect federal buildings in Los Angeles, further heightening tensions following five days of protests over roundups of undocumented immigrants, many of whom have not been charged with any crimes. As residents sought to block ICE from hauling away immigrants, some violent clashes ensued, including rocks thrown at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and vehicles burned.

The deployment appears to be the first time in decades that a state’s National Guard was activated without the request of its governor, adding a significant escalation against those who have sought to halt the administration’s mass deportation efforts. 

The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor’s consent was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama. In a directive on Saturday, June 7, Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”

The California lawsuit argues that President Trump overstepped his authority in deploying the National Guard, invoking a law that allows the president to do so under threat from a foreign “invasion” or “rebellion” against the US government. The lawsuit asserts that Trump’s move illegally infringed upon Newsom’s role as commander chief of the California National Guard; the White House did not immediately respond for comment even after deploying troops. The suit came two days after Trump announced the deployment in response to protests over immigration raids in the Los Angeles Area; this marks the first time in about 60 years that an American president has made a decision without a governor’s consent.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta weighed in, stating; “Let me be clear: there is no invasion. There is no rebellion. The president is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends.” During a news conference on Monday, Bonta said that the Trump administration “jumped from 0 to 60, bypassing law enforcement expertise and evaluation.”

Trump argued that federal intervention is necessary because in his view, Democratic leaders in California are not acting urgently enough to quell protests. Echoing an interview with MSNBC, Newsom, who has often clashed with Trump politically, has argued that the states can handle the protests on their own. Trump is “putting fuel on this fire.”

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said that the rare use of the law highlights the prevalence of federalism in the US government: “Congress recognized… that the governors of the 50 states could be trusted to activate the [National Guard] in the states when necessary to protect persons and property, and that most presidents had the good sense to defer to the judgment of Congress in trusting governors,” Tobias wrote in an email. Additionally, he stated that “most governors exercised good judgement in employing the discretion accorded them to make the best decisions for their states.”

Newsom has asked the Trump administration to rescind the deployment, where in a letter on June 8 to Defense secretary Pete Hegseth, he laid out legal arguments for how the deployment is hurting the state. “There is currently no need for the National Guard to be deployed in Los Angeles, and to do so is a serious breach of state sovereignty,” Newsom said in the letter to Hegseth.

Bonta said on Monday that  Newsom’s request “was ignored.”

The Pentagon chief has shown no intention of backing down and has threatened to deploy more troops to Los Angeles; Northern Command said that “approximately 500 Marines” stationed in Southern California were ready for deployment to Los Angeles if needed. All of Newsom’s fellow Democratic governors came to his defense in a joint statement on Sunday, calling the deployment “an alarming abuse of power.”

Trump Threatens to Arrest Governor

President Trump said on Monday the 9th that he would encourage the arrest of Governor Gavin Newsom, marking a significant escalation in his rhetoric as protests in Los Angeles rage on: “I’d do it if I were [Tom Homan]. I think it's great.”

Trump made the remarks in an exchange with reporters after a weekend of protestors, during which large groups of demonstrators clashed with law enforcement. Tensions escalated Sunday night in response to the National Guard deployment: protestors blocked a freeway and set fire to self-driving cars while law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bangs to control the crowd.

Trump’s comments go beyond what “Border Czar” Tom Homan has said: while noting that no one is above the law, Homan said that the administration had not discussed arresting the California governor. The president’s statement, that he would arrest a sitting governor, has been the latest example of the on-again off-again feud the president has had with Newsom. Newsome earlier dared Homan to make the arrest: “come after me. Arrest me,” Newsom told NBC News. “Let’s just get it over with, tough guy.”

Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have argued that Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard further stoked tensions, with Border Czar Tom Homan stating that it was Newsom who failed to adequately control protests, which prompted the president to step in with a federal response.

Further Escalation

Yet another 2,000 National Guard troops along with 700 Marines sent to Los Angeles under orders from the president further escalates a military presence of local officials, which saw the most violence during three days of protests driven by anger over Trump’s stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws that critics say are breaking apart migrant families.

Trump has described Los Angeles in bleak terms that Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth. They say that he is putting public safety at risk by adding military personnel even though the police say that they do not need assistance.

But Congressman Darrell Issa (R-San Diego), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, has called for investigations into the Los Angeles civil unrest. “We need to know if the political leadership of the city of Los Angeles, the state of California, or anyone else instructed the LAPD to stand down and not respond to the emergency requests of our ICE agents who were under attack by rioters,” Issa stated,  Times of San Diego reports.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnel said in a statement that he was confident in the police department’s ability to handle large-scale demonstrations, and that adding the Marines to the social landscape without coordinating the police department presented a “significant logistical and operational challenge” for LAPD.

“This isn’t about public safety, " Newsom stated, "it's about stroking a dangerous President's ego.” In a post on X, Governor Newsom called the deployment reckless and “disrespectful to our troops.”

Both Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass have denounced violence by protesters and urged that protests stay peaceful, while voicing confidence that the Los Angeles Police and Sheriff departments are capable of handling any civil unrest without federal troops.

Monday’s demonstrations were far less boisterous than earlier ones, with thousands peacefully attending a rally at City Hall and hundreds protesting outside a federal complex, including a detention center where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids across the city. Mayor Bass has imposed a curfew to help keep the peace after dark.

Additionally, many of these thousands flooded the streets for a union rally ahead of a hearing for arrested labor leader David Huerta, who was freed hours after detention on a $50,000 bond on a charge of conspiracy to obstruct federal authorities. Huerta was arrested on Friday, June 6, while protesting immigration raids, which came as a rallying cry for people angry over the administration's crackdown on immigration. Huerta is President of the Service Employees International Union California, which represents thousands of the state’s janitors, security officers, and other workers. Early protests had a calm and even joyful atmosphere at times, with people dancing to live music, content at Huerta’s release.

The heavy deployment of the National Guard has also had the inverse reaction expected from Trump’s demands of the California governor and Los Angeles mayor, where formerly rival gangs put aside their differences and united in their protests of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants. These gang members from the impoverished corners of Los Angeles, who were not intimidated by ICE arrests and pressures of the immigration crackdown, marched in solidarity, non-violently through the streets, joining with thousands of other protesters, chanting “we are Los Angeles.”

The protests over Trump’s immigration policies have gone national, with thousands taking to the streets in major cities across the U.S., NPR reports.

Even larger protests are expected on June 14, when “No Kings” rallies are slated nationwide to protest Trump administration policies on the same date that President Trump plans to hold a military parade in Washington D.C. to celebrate his birthday, an action critics liken to tactics used by authoritarian dictators.