Trump sends Marines and more National Guard members to Los Angeles amid protests

President Donald Trump is sending an additional 2,000 National Guard members to help respond to protests in Los Angeles over immigration raids. 

The Associated Press reported that an initial 2,000 Guard troops ordered by Trump arrived Sunday, which saw the most violence during the three days of protests in the city. The president also deployed 700 Marines to help them Monday.

RELATED: LA protests: Riot gear distributed by masked group sparks questions

Pentagon says Los Angeles deployment to cost roughly $134 million

By the numbers:

The current estimated cost for the Los Angeles deployment is $134 million, which is largely just the cost of travel, housing and food, the Associated Press reported, citing Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, special assistant to the secretary of defense who’s currently performing the duties of the Pentagon’s top financial officer.

Trump told reporters Monday that the city would have been "completely obliterated" if he had not deployed the Guard, the AP noted.

California leaders respond to Trump sending more troops 

The other side:

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press that he was confident in the police department’s ability to manage large demonstrations and that the Marines’ arrival without coordinating with the police department would present a "significant logistical and operational challenge" for them.

RELATED: Pentagon deploys 700 Marines, more National Guard to LA amid ICE protests

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the deployments reckless and "disrespectful to our troops" in a post on the social platform X.

"This isn’t about public safety," Newsom said. "It’s about stroking a dangerous President’s ego."

The Associated Press reported that California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit over the use of National Guard troops after the first deployment, telling reporters that President Donald Trump had "trampled" California’s sovereignty.

Bonta requested a court order declaring Trump’s use of the Guard unlawful and asking for a restraining order to halt the deployment.

A federal judge will hold a hearing Thursday on Newsom’s request to block the Trump administration from using the National Guard and Marines to assist with immigration raids in Los Angeles.

Newsom filed the emergency request Tuesday seeking to immediately block the administration from sending troops to help support immigration raids. The governor argued it would only escalate tensions and promote civil unrest.

Local perspective:

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a curfew for downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday "to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting."

She said in a news conference that she had declared a local emergency and that the curfew will run from 8 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday.

"We reached a tipping point" after 23 businesses were looted, Bass said.

The curfew will be in place in a 1 square mile (2.59 square kilometer) section of downtown that includes the area where protests have occurred since Friday. The city of Los Angeles encompasses roughly 500 square miles (2,295 square kilometers).

ICE immigration raid protests 

Dig deeper:

Protests in Los Angeles were less rowdy Monday, with demonstrators peacefully attending a rally at City Hall, while other protests were outside a federal facility with a detention center where some immigrants are being held after workplace raids across the city.

The immigration protests started on June 6 after federal immigration authorities arrested over 40 people across Los Angeles. The smell of smoke hovered in the air on Monday, a day after crowds blocked a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fire as police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades.

More protests against immigration raids continued Monday in other cities, including San Francisco and Santa Ana, California, and Dallas and Austin, Texas.

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