Local and state leaders have said it’s counterproductive and an overreaction to deploy military personnel to Los Angeles amid protests over federal immigration raids.
As federal officials detailed Tuesday, it’s also expensive.
It will cost the federal government $134 million to deploy the thousands of troops to the Southland for a 60-day period, according to multiple reports.
With the Associated Press reporting the total deployment is now 4,100 National Guard members and 700 Marines, that equates to just under $28,000 per troop.
Federal officials said that amount is “largely just the cost of travel, housing and food,” but Gov. Gavin Newsom has stated the troops already in Southern California came without sufficient support or a need for their services.
“I was just informed Trump is deploying another 2,000 Guard troops to L.A.,” Newsom wrote on social media on Monday. “The first 2,000? Given no food or water. Only approx. 300 are deployed — the rest are sitting, unused, in federal buildings without orders. This isn’t about public safety. It’s about stroking a dangerous President’s ego. This is Reckless. Pointless. And Disrespectful to our troops.”
A San Francisco Chronicle report seems to back up Newsom’s assertion, with images showing dozens of troops lying in “what appear to [be] federal building basements or loading docks” and attempting to sleep on the floor.
“The troops — whose makeshift quarters are shown in photographs exclusively obtained by the Chronicle — arrived without federal funding for food, water, fuel, equipment or lodging, said the source, who was granted confidentiality under Chronicle policies,” the newspaper reported. “This person said state officials and the California National Guard were not to blame.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, however, said the number of troops and their expected two-month deployment are necessary to send a message to those perpetuating violence that their action won’t go unpunished.
“We stated very publicly that it’s 60 days because we want to ensure that those rioters, looters and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we’re not going anywhere,” he said, as reported by the AP.
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