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National Guardsmen deployed to Los Angeles have the authority to temporarily detain anti-ICE rioters in Los Angeles, the Department of Homeland Security says.
President Donald Trump has deployed some 4,000 National Guardsmen to the city as the riots continue, but Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman said on Wednesday that there have only been a small number of cases where they have detained civilians.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin says the troops are on the ground to provide protection for ICE agents and other federal law enforcement groups.
“If any rioters attack ICE law enforcement officers, military personnel have the authority to temporarily detain them until law enforcement makes the arrest,” McLaughlin told Axios in a statement.
Sherman told the Associated Press on Wednesday that about 500 National Guard troops have been trained so far to help agents carry out immigration operations in Los Angeles.
Immigration officials have already circulated photos of soldiers from the National Guard providing security for Department of Homeland Security agents.
He told the AP that over the past few days, National Guard soldiers have temporarily detained anti-ICE protesters, though there have not been many as of late because things have calmed down.
Sherman also said the soldiers did not participate in the arrests or law enforcement activities. Instead, he added, they let the agitators go once police take them into custody.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has had a public feud with the Trump administration, accusing the president of having “commandeered” 2,000 of the state’s National Guard members “illegally, for no reason” without consulting with California’s law enforcement leaders.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, said its ICE operations are aiming to get “criminal illegal immigrant killers, rapists, gangbangers, drug dealers, human traffickers and domestic abusers off the streets.”
Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
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