The Trump administration will recall 2,000 National Guard soldiers deployed last month to Los Angeles, saying the city is calm enough that the president can start withdrawing the federalized troops.
The recall still leaves 2,000 other guard troops and 700 Marines in the area, where they have been assigned to protect immigration officers and agents as they try to arrest illegal immigrants.
Defense Department officials said the recall is a measure of success.
“Thanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said.
Violent anti-ICE demonstrations have cooled down in the city in recent weeks, though Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass saw the withdrawal as a “retreat” for President Trump.
“This happened because the people of Los Angeles stood united and stood strong. We organized peaceful protests, we came together at rallies, we took the Trump administration to court — all of this led to today’s retreat,” she said.
Mr. Trump federalized and deployed troops from California’s National Guard in early June after rioters attacked immigration officers and tried to storm a facility where they were processing illegal immigrant arrestees.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it asked local authorities for assistance but it was delayed, risking officers’ safety.
Local officials, while blasting ICE for the immigration arrest surge, insisted they were not hanging ICE out to dry and did in fact deploy local police to help as soon as possible.
Mr. Trump was not convinced and federalized the Guard.
Gov. Gavin Newsom sued and a district court judge agreed with him, finding Mr. Trump overstepped his powers. But an appeals court put that ruling on hold, finding Mr. Trump likely did act within his expansive commander-in-chief powers.
Yet another district judge last week ruled that ICE was making illegal sweeps through the city, rounding up illegal immigrants based on race and language without having a reasonable suspicion of their unlawful immigration status.
The Trump administration has appealed that decision.
