The Trump administration is pulling half of the California National Guard members he deployed in a major rollback of its militarized response to protests over immigration arrests and raids across the state.
“Thanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding,” Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a July 15 statement. “As such, the Secretary has ordered the release of 2,000 California National Guardsmen (79th IBCT) from the federal protection mission.”
Trump deployed 4,000 California National Guardsmen on June 7 to respond to protests that racked the southern part of the state after he stepped up immigration raids and arrests, targeting farms, restaurants, and hardware stores across the Los Angeles area. He also ordered 700 Marines to the city that were tasked with guarding federal property.
The deployment was decried by the state’s Democratic lawmakers, who have called an overreach of presidential authority and accused Trump of inciting violence. Trump has claimed that the “Los Angeles would be burning right now” if not for the military presence.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued the Trump administration, but an appeals court ruled that Trump could keep control over the National Guard troops in mid-June.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump administration pulls 2,000 National Guard from California
