Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to say Thursday whether he would respect any court’s ruling if it put major limitations on National Guard troops and Marines deploying in Los Angeles after a series of sometimes violent protests fueled by federal immigration raids.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer will hear California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s motion for a temporary restraining order that would limit the activities of 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to protecting federal buildings in a small area of downtown where most of the protests have taken place.
The military’s mission in recent days has been expanded to include protection of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers conducting the raids prompted by Trump’s directive to find immigrants living in the U.S. without legal status. The sweeps have prompted six days of protests resulting in hundreds of arrests in Los Angeles. Demonstrations and rallies have spread across the nation.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., asked Hegseth at a congressional hearing Thursday to “assure the American people” he would respect any ruling from the Supreme Court or district courts about sending the military to crack down on protests against Trump’s immigration enforcement sweeps.
“We should not have local judges determining foreign policy or national security policy for the country,” Hegseth responded.
“You’re not willing to say you would respect those decisions?” Khanna said.
“What I’m saying is local district judges shouldn’t make foreign policy for the United States,” Hegseth shot back.
Tump, Newsom joust ahead of crucial court hearing
The showdown between President Donald Trump and Newsom over Trump’s use of the military was headed from social media to a courtroom Thursday. Newsom slammed Trump in an interview released Thursday with “The Daily,” a New York Times podcast, saying Trump’s decision to deploy the Guard is “theatre, it’s madness, it’s unconstitutional.”
Newsom said local police are protecting the deployed National Guard troops while also handling the protests − “just think about how perverse that is.”
Trump, in a Truth Social post Thursday, said the city was “safe and sound” thanks in part to the Guard.
“Our great National Guard, with a little help from the Marines, put the L.A. Police in a position to effectively do their job,” Trump wrote Thursday. “They all worked well together, but without the Military, Los Angeles would be a crime scene like we haven’t seen in years.”
The LAPD did report incidents of unrest the last two nights, and arrests were made. Demonstrators late Wednesday threw “commercial-grade fireworks and rocks” at officers, police said.
Newsom, who has repeatedly decried the military intervention as an illegal waste of resources that provoked unrest, ultimately wants the National Guard returned to state control and Trump’s actions declared illegal.
“Governor Gaven NewScum had totally lost control of the situation,” Trump wrote Thursday. “He should be saying THANK YOU for saving his ass, instead of trying to justify his mistakes and incompetence!!!”
Newsom shrugged off the reccuring “NewScum” reference, telling “The Daily” it was “what I think a seventh grader used to call me.”
Hundreds arrested in LA protests as Hegseth hints at more deployments: Updates
Trump vows to protect farm, hotel workers in raids
President Donald Trump said he plans to make changes to his administration’s aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration to protect migrant farmers, hotel workers and others in the leisure industry who have been among those deported. Trump promised the changes in a Truth Social post that acknowledged ICE officers have not only targeted violent criminals, who Trump officials have said are the primary focus of raids and deportations.
“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” Trump wrote on the social media platform he owns. Read more here.
− Joey Garrison
Trump vows changes to crackdown to protect migrant farmers, hotel workers
Unrest is spreading in pockets across the country
On June 11, protesters in communities large and small took to the streets to rally against immigration enforcement and show support for demonstrators in Los Angeles.
The events ranged in size and scope from hundreds of people chanting outside the Indianapolis stadium hosting the NBA finals, to a small group rallying peacefully outside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection office in Detroit.
Some of the protests erupted into arrests and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement.
In Spokane, Washington, police arrested at least 30 protesters and the mayor declared a state of emergency. A similar situation unfolded in Tucson, Arizona, where law enforcement deployed tear gas and took several protesters into custody.
This week, hundreds of people have been arrested during protests across the country, including in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Las Vegas, New York, Chicago and Austin.
Tucson protest sees multiple arrests, tear gas
In Tucson, Arizona, a group of about 300 protesters marched to the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, where the rally grew tense and erupted into clashes and arrests on June 11.
Some of the protesters threw paint balls and water bottles at the office’s security guards, who responded with flash bangs and pepper spray. Soon after, protesters blocked a nearby road, onlookers said. Police in riot gear arrived to disperse them and three people were taken into custody.
Christina Benitez, a local teacher and Mexican American, was at the protest with her friend. They held signs reading “ICE out of our city” and “Defend the Constitution.”
“There is no excuse to quash the public with ICE and the Marines and the National Guard,” she told the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network. “That is contrary to everything our nation was founded upon, the right of assembly.”
– Sarah Lapidus, Arizona Republic
Protesters in Detroit rally against immigration enforcement
A small but vocal group of demonstrators rallied Wednesday, June 11, outside the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office in Detroit to oppose ongoing immigration raids and deportations.
According to activists, five or six individuals – most of them believed to be Venezuelan – were detained after their immigration cases were dismissed in court.
“That’s happening more and more. Regardless of the outcome, people have been snatched up straight out of court – and we’ve known people that this has happened to,” Kate Stenvig, a local organizer, told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Nicole Conaway, a Detroit resident and local activist, believes what’s at stake goes beyond immigration policy. “If Trump can win this battle, then we’re further down the road to fascism and him being a dictator,” she said.
– Nour Rahal, Detroit Free Press
Spokane mayor declared state of emergency amid anti-ICE protest
Police in Spokane, Washington, arrested more than 30 people and the mayor issued a state of emergency after a protest against immigration enforcement on June 11 escalated.
The protest formed after organizers heard two Venezuelan men were detained at a local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, where one of them was slated to a check-in after he had applied for asylum, reported KREM2.
Protesters tried to block the truck that was supposedly meant to take the men to an ICE facility in Tacoma, local outlets reported. The crowd outside the ICE field office began to swell and local law enforcement declared it an unlawful assembly. Officers deployed tear gas and fired pepper balls into the crowd before it dispersed.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown declared a state of emergency and issued a curfew for a section of the downtown area from 9:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. At a news conference, Kevin Hall, chief of the Spokane Police Department, said over 30 protesters were arrested.
Anti-ICE protesters rally outside NBA finals game
The roar of cheers and chants could be heard outside Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis just before Game 3 of the NBA finals, but it wasn’t the sound of basketball fans. It was people gathered to protest ICE raids in Indiana.
The crowd swelled to more than a thousand people before it broke up, organizers said, although Indianapolis police put the count at around 500. The protest was prompted by rumors online that ICE raids had taken place in the nearby city of Lawrence. Local police said it wasn’t aware of any U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions there.
The demonstration remained nonviolent, and one speaker reminded demonstrators not to antagonize the police. Protesters held signs reading “ICE out of Indy now” and “Power to the workers not the billionaires.” Some basketball fans on their way to the game responded to the protesters with chants of “USA.”
Resident Jaqueline Montez, 30, said it was important to her to protest now rather than wait for planned “No Kings Day” protests downtown and nationwide on June 14. “We’re being seen by the rest of the world,” Montez told the Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network. “We’re being noticed today.”
– Jade Jackson, Noe Padilla and Matthew Cupelli, Indianapolis Star
Newsom takes shot at defense secretary on social media
Newsom posted a photo on X of National Guard troops sleeping on the floor and another image, posted by the official Defense Department’s Rapid Response account, of a baseball game.
“Pete sent 4,700 troops here (when they weren’t needed) without adequate fuel, food, water or a place to sleep. But don’t worry, he’s at a baseball game,” Newsom wrote.
Rapid Response quickly responded on X, posting a photo of a protester waving a Mexican flag as a fire burns. The post says: “Weren’t needed.”
The military’s Northern Command said in a statement Wednesday that the military has contracted for billeting, latrines, showers, food and laundry services and other items and services for the troops. The statement added that “while awaiting fulfillment of the contract, soldiers and Marines have adequate shelter, food, and water.”
Some former military leaders siding with Newsom
Former secretaries of the Army and Navy, three retired admirals and two retired generals banded together to file an amicus brief in the Trump-Newsom litigation citing what they describe as “critical national security risks” inherent in Trump’s deployment of military forces in Los Angeles.
Amicus briefs are filed by people or organizations not directly involved in litigation but who take a position in the case. The group includes former Army Secretary Louis Caldera, a Democrat, and former Navy Secretary Sean O’Keefe, a Republican.
The brief says deploying the military for domestic law enforcement diverts them from their primary mission of national security and disaster response, that National Guard personnel and active duty Marines are not properly trained for such law enforcement operations, and that such a use of the military should be a “last resort to avoid the politicization of the military, which inevitably erodes public trust, impacts recruitment, and undermines troop morale.”
‘He’s lost it’: Newsom slams Trump’s mental acuity, echoing president’s criticism of Biden
Protesters throw fireworks, rocks at officers, police say
A one-square-mile of downtown Los Angeles remained under a curfew Thursday after days of demonstrations led to hundreds of arrests. The unrest continued Wednesday night, when police said demonstrators at one location threw “commercial-grade fireworks and rocks” at officers, resulting in a number of arrests.
The protests broke out on June 6 in response to ongoing ICE raids that have sparked fear among immigrant communities. While many protests have been relatively peaceful, some have turned into scenes of chaos as police fired “with “less lethal” munitions such as tear gas and flash-bangs to disperse crowds.
Marines could be on the streets Thursday
The 700 active-duty Marines had completed their training for the Los Angeles mission, which included de-escalation and crowd control, U.S. Northern Command announced. The Marines were expected to be deployed Thursday or Friday to protect federal officers and property, the command said in a statement.
The Marines won’t conduct “civilian law enforcement functions” but may temporarily detain people to stop an assault, to prevent harm to others, or to prevent interference with federal agents performing their duties, the statement said.
“Any temporary detention will end immediately when the individual(s) can be safely transferred to the custody of appropriate civilian law enforcement personnel.”
Some governors ‘draw the line’ on aiding ICE
Three Democratic governors are expected to tell Congress in a June 12 Thursday that they coordinate with federal immigration authorities to deport convicted criminals but can’t afford to shoulder the burden of tracking down and detaining undocumented immigrants. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in testimony prepared for the House Oversight and Accountability Committee the state transferred more than 1,300 convicts to Immigration and Customs Enforcement since she took office in August 2021.
“But we have to draw a line somewhere,” Hochul said. “New York cannot deputize our state officers to enforce civil immigration violations, such as overstaying a visa.”
− Bart Jansen
Walz, Hochul, Pritzker to criticize immigration enforcement in House hearing
Hundreds of protests planned for June 14
Protests are planned for 1,800 communities across the country on June 14, the same day Trump holds a military parade in Washington, D.C. For decades, the GOP has claimed most of the symbols of patriotism, including the American flag, but the people protesting Trump, a Republican, say they are the true patriots now.
The rallies, named “No Kings Day” to oppose what they see as Trump’s power grab, are expected to be the largest and most numerous protests since Trump’s second term began, dwarfing the Hands Off protests in early April that drew as many as 1 million Americans to the streets at more than 1,000 rallies.
No Kings Day was organized by grassroots groups in cities and towns of all sizes to coincide with the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary celebration, which is also Trump’s 79th birthday and Flag Day. Administration officials insist it is a coincidence that the parade falls on Trump’s birthday. Read more here.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LA protests live: Hegseth won’t say he’ll respect ruling on deployment
