Pentagon withdraws 1,350 National Guard troops from Los Angeles
More than 1,000 National Guard troops were withdrawn from Los Angeles Thursday following an order from the Pentagon, easing a federal deployment tied to immigration enforcement protests.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered Wednesday the recall of approximately 1,350 California National Guardsmen from their mission to protect federal buildings and personnel amid public unrest sparked by recent immigration raids.
“Yesterday, Secretary Hegseth ordered the release of approximately 1,350 California National Guardsmen from the federal protection mission,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
“Approximately 250 California National Guardsmen remain in Los Angeles to protect personnel and property. 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.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom welcomed the drawdown and called on President Donald Trump to send the remaining soldiers home.
“President Trump is realizing that his political theater backfired. This militarization was always unnecessary and deeply unpopular,” Newsom said in his statement. “The President must do the right thing to end this illegal militarization now because the economic and societal impacts are dire.”
“The women and men of our military deserve more than to be used as props in the federal government’s propaganda machine,” he added.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a vocal critic of the deployment, also praised the decision.
“Another win for Los Angeles,” Bass said in a social media post Wednesday night. “We will continue this pressure until ALL troops are out of L.A.”
The move follows the Pentagon’s earlier withdrawal of nearly 2,000 California National Guard troops and 700 active-duty U.S. Marines from the region.
In June, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began operations in Los Angeles and throughout the county, triggering widespread protests and clashes with ICE agents.
In response, Trump ordered 2,000 California National Guard troops be placed under federal control and sent to Los Angeles to protect federal property. Another 2,000 Guardsmen and 700 Marines were later added to the deployment.
The federalization of the National Guard was sharply condemned by Newsom, Bass and other Democratic leaders in the region, who labeled the move an unnecessary “militarization” of immigration enforcement efforts. Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the federalization, but a judge ruled in favor of the Trump administration.
According to an estimate from the Pentagon, the deployment of troops to Los Angeles is expected to cost about $134 million.