Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday again blasted the Trump administration’s federalized National Guard deployment in Los Angeles to assist with immigration enforcement, this time taking aim at the move’s $118 million cost to taxpayers.
Currently about 200 to 300 National Guard soldiers remain in the LA area to guard federal facilities that house people detained for immigration law violations, according to the Pentagon.
Trump ordered more than 4,200 National Guard troops and 700 U.S. Marines to the region in June to assist federal agents’ roving patrols and raids of businesses that employ immigrants.
According to Newsom’s office, the deployment cost $71 million for food and other basic necessities, $37 million in payroll, over $4 million in logistics supplies, $3.5 million in travel and $1.5 million for demobilization costs, which adds up to a total of an estimated $118 million.
“Let us not forget what this political theater is costing us all — millions of taxpayer dollars down the drain, an atrophy to the readiness of guardsmembers across the nation and unnecessary hardships to the families supporting those troops,” Newsom said in a statement. “Talk about waste, fraud, and abuse. We ask other states to do the math themselves.”
Last month the governor’s office filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the total expenses that have mounted since the Marines and federalized the National Guard arrived June 7.
“While we await those documents from the federal government, the California National Guard developed the calculations at the request of the Governor,” according to Newsom’s office.
“There’s no doubt soldiers deserve to be paid for the time spent on the ground — even if they were mostly waiting around for orders at Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos — but there are better uses of their time and taxpayer funding,” state officials added.
“LA would’ve burned to the ground if it weren’t for President Trump,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. “Newscum was too busy sipping wine at a Napa fundraiser to take any action to protect law enforcement officers from his violent rioters — and now he’s trying to rewrite history.”
Jackson referred to Newsom’s attendance at a charity event while protesters clashed with federal agents in downtown Los Angeles.
In addition to the hefty price tag, Newsom also criticized the deployment process, which his office described as “rushed, soldiers early on were forced to sleep on the floors and in the open air, use facilities with no functioning plumbing and were often fighting boredom.”
According to Newsom’s office, less than 20% of the troops deployed to LA were actually utilized. Many National Guard soldiers were pulled away from essential civilian duties, such as first responders, police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses and teachers. Guard troops also were also sidetracked from Taskforce Rattlesnake firefighting teams and the Counterdrug Task Force that works at ports of entry along the border, officials said.
State officials also pointed to media reports of soldiers’ low morale.
On Tuesday, a federal judge granted California’s request for a preliminary injunction to block the Trump administration’s order extending the National Guard deployment in LA through Election Day, Nov. 5.
“The ruling makes clear: Trump is breaking the law by trying to create a national police force with himself as its chief,” according to Newsom’s office.
On June 10, following Trump’s takeover of the 4,200 California National Guard soldiers and the deployment of the Marines, Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an emergency request for the court to block the move.
“This mission orders soldiers to engage in unlawful civilian law enforcement activities in communities across the region, beyond just guarding federal buildings,” according to the governor’s office.
Trump has indicated he may deploy troops in other states to help with immigration law enforcement.
