The Pentagon continued its withdrawal of troops sent to Los Angeles as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, ordering 700 Marines back to their base.
Monday’s move follows a similar drawdown last week of 2,000 National Guard soldiers from Los Angeles.
Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered thousands of National Guard and the active-duty Marines to Los Angeles after some protests against immigration enforcement became violent in June. The Guardsmen had protected Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who were rounding immigrants suspected of being inside the United States illegally. Marines protected federal property.
The deployments came despite opposition from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats, who said local law enforcement officials had control of the protests.