The Trump administration has released around 150 National Guard troops from federal duties in California, allowing them to return to regular duty fighting wildfires in the state.
This marks the first pullback since the deployment of a military force to the Los Angeles area in response to protests against federal immigration raids.
The big picture: The decision to release the National Guard troops came two weeks after the Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, ended a nighttime curfew, citing the decrease in vigorous and sometimes violent protests in the downtown core.
- The deployment of thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines by the Trump administration in response to a handful of demonstrations has been heavily criticized by Governor Gavin Newsom. He has condemned the administration’s actions as politically motivated, rather than based on public safety concerns.
- Most of the troops under federal duty in the Los Angeles area include critical workers such as medical, law enforcement, and corrections officials, civil servants, tech workers, teachers, service workers, agriculture workers, and people in the building trades. Governor Newsom has expressed concerns that the deployment has misused thousands of essential personnel needed for other critical tasks, including wildfire prevention and firefighting.
Go deeper: The troops released from federal duty were usually working on wildfire prevention, which Governor Newsom highlighted as a critical task, especially with the onset of hot, dry weather in California. Newsom criticized the situation, stating that fewer than 20% of the troops called up through Trump’s order had been given work assignments, leaving them idle while crucial wildfire preparation work awaited.
- Federal officials have maintained that the deployed troops are necessary to ensure the safety of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents tasked with rounding up and deporting individuals without legal permission. The Administration cited the troops as accompanying federal enforcement officers on raids in Southern California to provide security for ICE agents.
