California governor files emergency request to stop military from helping immigration raids

California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed an emergency request in federal court Tuesday to block the Trump administration from using the National Guard and marines to assist with immigration raids in Los Angeles, claiming a change in orders is coming. 

Newsom's move comes after U.S. President Donald Trump deployed roughly 4,000 National Guard members and 700 marines to Los Angeles, at a cost of at least $134 million US, following four days of protests over his stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws.

The Guard members were originally deployed to protect federal buildings, according to the administration, but the emergency request alleges they will also be ordered to support immigration operations. 

The filing includes a declaration from Paul Eck, deputy general counsel in the California Military Department, who says the department has been informed that the Pentagon plans to direct the California National Guard to carry out support including securing perimeters where raids are taking place and securing streets for immigration agents.

It was not clear if the change in mission had begun.

"Trump is turning the U.S. military against American citizens," Newsom said in a social media post. "The courts must immediately block these illegal actions."

At least 60 days

The deployment of the Guard and marines will cost at least $134 million US and last at least the next 60 days, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and a senior defence official told lawmakers Tuesday.

"We stated very publicly that it's 60 days because we want to ensure that those rioters, looters and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we're not going anywhere," Hegseth told members of the House appropriations defence subcommittee.

After questioning from members of Congress, Hegseth turned to his acting comptroller, Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, who provided the total estimated cost and said this "is largely just the cost of travel, housing and food." She said the money will come from operations and maintenance accounts.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said Tuesday she would try to call U.S. President Donald Trump to tell him to stop federal immigration raids. Those raids sparked the protests that, in turn, led to the deployment of troops. 

Trump has sent the troops and marines to quell the protests despite the objections of Newsom and local leaders including Bass, with Hegseth saying the governor and mayor have "failed to protect" their people. 

Bass reiterated Tuesday that the federal response has escalated a situation that could have been kept under control by local police.

"On Thursday of last week, Los Angeles was peaceful. There was nothing going on here that warranted the federal intervention," Bass said at a news conference.

"If we want to look at the cause of what is happening here, I can take it back to the raids that took place. And the uncertainty and fear and the fact that families across the city are terrified."

Bass said the city will not tolerate violence and looting and that the city is considering imposing a curfew, but added she does not know why the U.S. government called in the marines. 

"People have asked me, 'What are the marines going to do when they get here?' That's a good question. I have no idea," she said. 

Bass said she thinks the federal government is using L.A. as part of a "grand experiment" to see what happens when it decides it wants to take over a city or state.

"Because if you can do this to the nation's second largest city, maybe the administration is hoping that this will be a signal to everybody everywhere to fear them — that your federal government, that historically has protected you, can come in and take over," she said. 

'Significant' challenge

Los Angeles police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement that he was confident in the police department's ability to handle large-scale demonstrations and that the marines' arrival without co-ordinating with the police department would present a "significant logistical and operational challenge."

Marine Corps Gen. Eric Smith told a budget hearing on Capitol Hill that the battalion has not yet been sent to any protests. The marines are trained for crowd control but have no arrest authority and are there to protect government property and federal personnel, Smith said.

Under the Posse Comitatus Act, troops are prohibited from policing U.S. citizens on American soil, though this can be overridden by invoking the Insurrection Act. 

Trump said Tuesday that "if there was an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it."

Requests for federal military deployment usually come at the request of a state governor, not in defiance of one.

Trump's orders appear to be the first time a president has overridden a governor since President Lyndon Johnson deployed troops to Alabama in 1965.

California is suing the U.S. president, accusing him of unlawful federal overreach by deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles protests over ICE immigration raids. The Pentagon also deployed about 700 U.S. Marines Monday to reinforce the federal response.

Tensions soared in Los Angeles after a series of immigration sweeps starting late last week, including in the city's fashion district and at a Home Depot, pushed the tally of immigrant arrests in the city past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement.

In nearby San Diego, officers in heavy tactical gear fired flash-bang explosives at a popular Italian restaurant on May 30, an operation that resulted in four immigration arrests.

Questions about deportations

Hegseth said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are deporting "illegal criminals," but Democrats and immigration advocates have said it's not clear if that's always been the case, citing a lack of transparency from the Trump administration.

A Washington Post report on Tuesday indicated that some individuals from the Southern California raids may have already been deported. Judges in a number of cases across the country have questioned whether the administration has given deportees the opportunity to challenge their removals, and court orders have led to the government facilitating the return of at least two people to the U.S.