Image Credit: BENJAMIN HANSON / Contributor / Getty Images 
Around 250 National Guard soldiers will remain deployed in Los Angeles to protect federal workers and buildings.
On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the drawdown of 1,350 California National Guard troops from their mission in the city. They were initially deployed to help restore order after protesters targeted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducting local raids, in June.
The remaining 250 or so National Guard soldiers will “protect federal personnel and property,” Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said.
“We greatly appreciate the support of the more than 5,000 Guardsmen and Marines who mobilized to Los Angeles to defend Federal functions against the rampant lawlessness occurring in the city,” Parnell added.
In addition to 4,000 National Guard soldiers, 700 US Marines were also sent to the city by the Department of Defense.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and state Governor Gavin Newsom strongly criticized the deployment of the troops, claiming that it was an “escalation” and “political theater.”
Governor Newsom welcome the decision to reduce the size of the National Guard presence in Los Angeles, claiming Trump’s “political therater backfired.”
“This militarization was always unnecessary and deeply unpopular. The President must do the right thing to end this illegal militarization now because the economic and societal impacts are dire,” Newsom said in a statement on Thursday. “The women and men of our military deserve more than to be used as props in the federal government’s propaganda machine.”
In related news, last week a federal appeals court upheld restrictions on the scope of immigration enforcement in Los Angeles.
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected an emergency motion from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stay a temporary restraining order that barred immigration agents from carrying out stops and arrests without probable cause.
The restraining order was issued by Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong in response to a suit brought by immigrant-advocacy groups. It prohibits DHS from detaining individuals simply on the basis of race, spoken language or accent, occupation or presence in particular locations like bus stops.
In response to Frimpong’s ruling, the White House said the judge lacks the authority to decide immigration policy.
“No federal judge has the authority to dictate immigration policy—that authority rests with Congress and the president.”
The appeal court upheld Frimpong’s ruling, but noted that the order’s clause that prohibits federal agents from carrying out stops based on certain factors “except as permitted by law,” was vague.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass welcomed the appeals court’s ruling.
“The temporary restraining order to stop unconstitutional and reckless raids has been upheld. This is a victory for Los Angeles—I will ALWAYS fight for our city,” Bass stated on X.
Mohammad Tajsar, an attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, which represents the plaintiffs, said the ruling confirmed the federal immigration operations “violated the Constitution and caused irreparable injury across the region.”
