California Democrats oppose President Trump’s move to deploy National Guard

California Democrats pushed back against US President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard to address protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles, with Governor Gavin Newsom accusing Trump of trying to "manufacture a crisis."

"Trump is sending 2,000 National Guard troops into LA County — not to meet an unmet need, but to manufacture a crisis," Newsom wrote on X on Sunday, calling on people to "stay peaceful."

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu, who represents a district in the Los Angeles area, agreed with Newsom, stating on X: "Trump's takeover of the California National Guard is purposefully inflammatory."

Rep. Nanette Barragan, a Democrat representing a district in the Los Angeles area, also criticized the deployment.

"We haven't asked for the help. We don't need the help. This is him escalating it, causing tensions to rise."

"It's only going to make things worse in a situation where people are already angry over immigration enforcement," Barragan said during an interview on CNN's State of the Union.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who previously served as a US senator from California and the state's attorney general, condemned the deployment, saying it is intended to "provoke chaos."

Accusing the Trump administration of using mass immigration raids to "spread panic and division," Harris asserted in a statement released on X that "this Administration's actions are not about public safety — they're about stoking fear."

On Saturday, Trump signed a memo invoking Title 10 authority to deploy a minimum of 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles County after confrontations between immigration officials and protesters in Paramount, California, as well as widespread demonstrations across the county.

In a post on X, Newsom claimed that Trump's move was "purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions."