Military troops are protecting federal immigration enforcement agents as they conduct sweeps for illegal immigrants in California. 

On Tuesday, the Trump administration detailed the role National Guardsmen are playing to provide cover for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as they target illegal immigrants in Los Angeles. Troops are “protecting” ICE “in the execution of their duties,” top government officials said. Marines are expected to provide similar security.

Recommended Stories

• Trump gives fiery defense of deployment of troops to deal with protesters, a tacit warning to other cities
• Two Republican senators criticize 250th anniversary Army parade
• Military considering 'wide range of options' on how to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons

Riots broke out in the California metropolis last Friday over ICE’s actions to target migrants in the area for deportation. Tensions have continued in the days since, with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announcing a local emergency Tuesday night and instituting a curfew after 23 businesses were vandalized the previous evening. 

President Donald Trump has activated 4,000 National Guardsmen and 700 Marines to secure the area over the protests of Democrats, including Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), who have characterized the federalization of the situation as authoritarian and inflammatory. 

But during a speech to troops at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg on Tuesday, Trump defended the move, saying, the military is “protect[ing] federal law enforcement,” carrying out his mass deportation order, “from the attacks of a vicious and violent mob.” 

“I want to applaud the courage and the strength of the incredible troops who are right now standing guard to protect federal property and personnel, and uphold the supremacy of federal law,” the president said. “That’s what they’re doing. They’re protecting our ICE agents, they’re protecting the police in Los Angeles.” 

The Pentagon confirmed Tuesday that federal troops will be providing security to ICE as they conduct sweeps. 

“We believe ICE agents should be allowed to be safe in doing their operations, and we have deployed National Guard and the Marines to protect them in the execution of their duties,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a congressional hearing. 

Marine Corps Commandant General Eric Smith testified during another congressional hearing Tuesday that the primary purpose of Marines being deployed to Los Angeles is to protect government property and federal personnel, which includes ICE. 

Smith said the battalion is operating in a support capacity and has not yet been sent to any protests, noting that troops have been trained in crowd control. 

“They do not have arrest authority,” Smith told the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

Hegseth testified Tuesday that all the troops had “been fully trained in their capabilities of what they’re executing on the ground.”

However, other government officials said that Marines will remain at Seal Beach, south of Los Angeles, and receive further training for a few more days “to learn protocols for use of force in a domestic setting,” according to Fox News.

Hegseth has suggested that the use of troops inside the U.S. will continue to expand under the Trump administration.

“I think we’re entering another phase, especially under President Trump with his focus on the homeland, where the National Guard and Reserves become a critical component of how we secure that homeland,” Hegseth said Tuesday on Capitol Hill.

ROUGHLY 700 MARINES DEPLOYING TO LA FOLLOWING WEEKEND ICE PROTESTS

Newsom has mounted a lawsuit against the Trump administration for militarizing in response to the Los Angeles riots. The president has ridiculed the governor for taking the “position that the rioting will not stop unless ICE withdraws from Los Angeles and ceases the enforcement of federal immigration law.” 

“The governor of California, the mayor of Los Angeles — they’re incompetent. And they paid troublemakers, agitators, and insurrectionists. They’re engaged in this willful attempt to nullify federal law and aid the occupation of the city by criminal invaders,” Trump told troops at Fort Bragg.