Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Monday repeated her demand for an end to the local deployment of federalized National Guard soldiers and U.S. Marines in connection with deportation operations that began last month.
State Sen. Caroline Menjivar, D-Panorama City, a former member of the Marine Corps, joined Bass during a morning news conference in Sylmar, along with other military veterans and families of service members who support a troop withdrawal.
The mayor said they “all feel appalled at the misuse of our troops right now, the militarization that has taken place of the National Guard, the inappropriate deployment of the Marines to our city streets.”
Bass added that the city needs the National Guard’s assistance to prepare for fire season, not to guard federal buildings and accompany immigration enforcement agents on raids.
“The administration, we know, has retreated some of the forces, but we need all the troops to return home and to not be here, to not be used as political stunts, to not be used to intimidate Angelenos and to not be used as pawns,” Bass said.
Menjivar echoed much of what the mayor said, adding the Marine Corps has a legacy of courage, valor and victory on the battlefield that is now tainted by “the battle of LA against people of color,” she said. “This is why it was so personal and infuriating to me to see 700 of my brothers and sisters in the corps deployed to my backyard because we did not sign up to intimidate and potentially take military action against Americans on American soil, who are exercising their constitutional right to protest.”
Menjivar served in the Marine Corps from 2009 to 2016 and was stationed at Air Station Miramar near La Jolla where she was a radio operator and communications platoon sergeant.
The senator also criticized the Trump administration for wasting what she said was around $134 million in taxpayer funds for the LA troop deployment.
Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of the national nonprofit Vet Voice Foundation and a former combat engineer officer in the Marine Corps, said the deployment of active duty Marines and National Guard soldiers to support domestic immigration enforcement activity is not routine.
“It is a break with long-standing norms and a decision that should concern every American, regardless of political affiliation,” Goldbeck said.
“The job of the American military is to fight and win wars, not police American neighborhoods,” she added. “When we blur that line, we don’t just risk overreach. We risk something deeper, the erosion of public trust in both our armed forces and in our democratic institutions.”
On June 7, President Donald Trump took control of 2,000 California National Guard troops and deployed them to Los Angeles to protect federal facilities and personnel one day after sometimes violent, destructive protests erupted — mainly in the downtown area. The protests reacted to widespread immigration raids and enforcement activity throughout LA County that remain ongoing.
An additional 2,000 soldiers were later added to the deployment, along with 700 Marines to secure federal property.
Last week, 2,000 federalized National Guard troops left the LA area, according to the Pentagon.
“With stability returning to Los Angeles, (Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth) has directed the redeployment of the 700 Marines whose presence sent a clear message: lawlessness will not be tolerated,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. “Their rapid response, unwavering discipline, and unmistakable presence were instrumental in restoring order and upholding the rule of law. We’re deeply grateful for their service, and for the strength and professionalism they brought to this mission.”
In a statement following the announcement of the Marines’ withdrawal, LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis said it was “long overdue,” adding, “There is no place for a militarized presence in our communities — especially when residents are peacefully demonstrating and exercising their constitutional rights. These are armed service members trained for the battlefield, not for deployment among civilians.”
Solis called for the remaining California National Guard troops “to be defederalized. There are natural disasters across the State and nation, where their skills and service are urgently needed. That is where they belong.”
In a nationally broadcast interview Sunday, Bass blasted the federal government’s mass-deportation op, noting that Los Angeles is dependent on immigrant workers.
“Because we are a city of immigrants, we have entire sectors of our economy that are dependent on immigrant labor,” Bass told Martha Raddatz, host of ABC News’ “The Week.” “We have to get the fire areas rebuilt. We’re not going to get our city rebuilt without immigrant labor.”
Bass issued several calls for the end of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the city that started June 6. She and a slew of fellow Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have accused the Trump administration and federal immigration agents of targeting people based on skin color and ethnicity and sowing fear in the local immigrant community.
Bass has also accused the administration of failing on the stated plan to target people with criminal histories for deportation, saying most detainees in local raids are otherwise law-abiding residents.
White House officials have repeatedly defended the troop deployments.
“President Trump is fulfilling the promise he was elected on — carrying out the largest mass deportation operation of criminal illegal aliens,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, told City News Service.
“While Karen Bass continues to support dangerous policies that put Americans at risk, ICE is removing threats from our streets. Just recently in Los Angeles, ICE arrested a criminal illegal alien with a conviction for second-degree murder, indecent exposure and a final deportation order from 2012.
“This is one of countless successful operations to go after the worst- of-the-worst that Karen Bass opposes,” Jackson said. “ICE is keeping communities safe, yet Karen Bass wants dangerous criminal illegals, like this man, to stay in America. She couldn’t be more out of touch.”
In the ABC interview, Bass said she has a request in to speak with administration officials about the raids and the National Guard deployment, but no recent conversations have occurred.
“I want to work with the administration to solve this problem,” Bass told Raddatz. “We have the World Cup in 11 short months here. We have the Olympics and Paralympics coming in three short years.
“I know that these games are very important to the president, and I look forward to working with him and we have an extreme difference on this issue, but there’s many issues for us to work on. And I will continue trying to outreach to the administration and hope that at some point they’ll be responsive.”
Updated July 22, 2025, 1:30 p.m.
