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The command has activated the Marine infantry battalion that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth placed on “prepare to deploy” orders over the weekend amid ongoing protests against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a Monday statement from Northern Command.
Approximately 700 Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, based out of Twentynine Palms in California, “will seamlessly integrate” with the National Guard troops already deployed to Los Angeles to protect federal personnel and property, Northcom said.
The command noted that the Marines had been “trained in de-escalation, crowd control, and standing rules for the use of force.”
Hegseth in a post on X later noted the deployment, attributing it to increased threats to federal officers and buildings.
“We have an obligation to defend federal law enforcement officers – even if Gavin Newsom will not,” Hegseth wrote.
It is unclear whether the Marines will actually be placed on the ground or if they will remain on standby. However, Newsom’s press office stated that it was their understanding that the service members are not yet being deployed, as there is a distinction between deployment and mobilization.
In a statement posted to X, Newsom’s press office also bashed the movement of Marines as “mobilizing the best-in-class branch of the U.S. military against its own citizens.”
“The level of escalation is completely unwarranted, uncalled for, and unprecedented,” the office added.
Later on Monday, Newsom said Trump is deploying 2,000 additional National Guard troops to Los Angeles, bringing the total to 4,000.
The move is likely to further inflame tensions between California officials and the Trump administration, which have locked horns over how to respond to protests in Los Angeles and surrounding suburbs against federal immigration raids.
President Trump has insisted the deployment – only the second time in the past 60 years that a U.S. president has mobilized a state’s National Guard troops without the consent of its governor – is necessary to stop protests against ICE.
But Newson has accused the Pentagon of “lying to the American people“ in justifying the deployment of service members within the state, asserting that the situation intensified only when the U.S. military deployed troops.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
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