Updated June 9, 2025 at 7:43 PM EDT
California Democrats are pushing back against the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and National Guard troops in their communities, calling the federal actions politically motivated and unnecessarily inflammatory.
President Trump sent 2,000 National Guard troops into Los Angeles County despite opposition from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who accused the president of manufacturing a crisis to justify more crackdowns and federal control of policing activities. Newsom also urged residents to remain peaceful.
The decision from a military and legal perspective was seen as an abuse of power and unprecedented, according to experts.
NPR invited Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, for an interview. They did not respond. We also reached out to Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. She was not available on June 9, but we will hear from her on Morning Edition later this week.
Congresswoman Nanette Barragán, who represents parts of Los Angeles, says her constituents are living in fear and that the presence of immigration enforcement is heightening tensions rather than keeping people safe.
In an interview with Morning Edition, Barragán told NPR's A Martinez about the protests, the federal response and why she believes President Trump is using immigration as a political distraction.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
A Martinez: What have you heard from your constituents about how these protests were handled and how things unfolded?
Rep. Nanette Barragán: We're hearing that there's a lot of fear in the community, whether they're next, whether ICE is going to come for them so that is something we're getting lots of calls about. We heard calls yesterday in San Pedro that there were sights of the National Guard. But frankly, people are outraged about ICE being in our communities. They think it's completely unnecessary that the National Guard is there. I completely agree with the governor that this is there to inflame the situation and to make things worse. And it's exactly what has happened.
I also want to point out that, I agree that today, actually, there's three things happening in Los Angeles. We need people to remain peaceful. Those causing damage to the city and assaulting officers are not welcome. We continue to condemn any violence. So today, when they go out, please keep that in mind. This is a movement against immigration enforcement. In particular, it's about protesting mass deportations and what they're doing. There's no targeted effort here to find criminals. Like they said we're going to do. They're sweeping up friends and neighbors of people who are just trying to find jobs at these worksites outside of Home Depot.
Martinez: President Trump's proclamation says that the National Guard troops will play a supporting role by protecting ICE officers rather than have these National Guard troops perform law enforcement work. So in these kinds of situations, when things tend to get tense, why wouldn't local police welcome those kinds of reinforcements?
Barragán: Local police can make sure that the public is safe and they can protect federal officers. That's the whole point. There's no need to call in the National Guard.
Actually, they did that in Paramount when they came to Paramount on Saturday morning. It was the sheriffs who got things under control, not the National Guard. In downtown L.A. that night, it was the LAPD who got things under control, it was not the National Guard. You bring up the National Guard, you rise tensions. People come out and this is what you're starting to see happen.
Martinez: The National Guard has only been deployed to protect federal buildings, so they wouldn't have been in Paramount. So what would be the problem with just having them do that? Have their duties confined to those things?
Barragán: People feel that it's unnecessary. They feel this is the administration taking over. And it is. This is a sign of a dictator who takes over a National Guard against the governor's will, [and] against all elected officials' will. The presence of the National Guard in itself is sending that message, "we're here to take you over." This is to empower the president to flex his muscles. So people have seen that. We've seen some reports of people attacking and doing things [to the] National Guard. It's for that reason. Now, again, any violence is completely unacceptable, but they're not needed. So it's only inflaming the situation. And that's the whole point. People want ICE and they want the National Guard out of our communities. There is a way to do enforcement. It's targeted enforcement. It's been done over and over again and hasn't resulted in this. This is really a distraction.
Martinez: You've said that you were told that California should expect 30 days of ICE enforcement. Are you thinking that we might see 27 more days of what we've seen over the last three days?
Barragán: Well, from what the federal officials have said, it's going to continue. And I could see why. Because right now, the president's all of his policies are failing, the economy is tanking. He's about to take health care away from millions of people. Prices are going up. And so this is a way to deflect and go right back to a signature issue. Let's go back to immigration and let's go after California. We saw that happening starting when [he said he's] going to defund California and stop giving the federal money. Now he's taking it to the immigration front. So this is his game plan and we can't let people fall into it. We have to make sure not to take the bait, not to do the violence.
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