On Sunday, the office of California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a memorandum urging US President Donald  Trump’s administration to immediately withdraw National Guard troops from Los Angeles, following widespread protests that erupted over the weekend against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directives ordering mass deportations of immigrants.

Governor Newsom demanded that the Trump administration return control of the Guard to the State of California, to “safeguard” public safety, asserting that local police authorities were better equipped to manage ongoing demonstrations than were federal forces, further explaining the state’s responsibility to protect public safety.

In his letter, Newsom accused the Trump administration of illegally deploying the National Guard in violation of California’s state sovereignty and claimed that the federalized troops are escalating tensions between protesters and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Newsom wrote: 

There is currently no need for the National Guard to be deployed in Los Angeles, and to do so in this unlawful manner and for such a lengthy period is a serious breach of state sovereignty that seems intentionally designed to inflame the situation, while simultaneously depriving the State from deploying these personnel and resources where they are truly required. Accordingly, we ask that you immediately rescind your order and return the National Guard to its rightful control by the State of California, to be deployed as appropriate when necessary.

According to Governor Newsom, the Trump administration violated §12406(3) of Title 10 of the United States Code, which requires the president to issue National Guard deployment orders through state governments. Newsom alleged that no such coordination occurred. He further stated that the Department of Defense failed to notify the Governor’s Office, that he neither approved nor authorized the deployment, and that the administration’s actions contradicted language in the president’s own memorandum, which pledged to coordinate with state governments before initiating any deployment.

The letter followed a weekend of escalating protests, which began Friday, with demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center demanding an end to ICE’s mass deportation operations in the City of Los Angeles. Reports indicate that protesters threw rocks from overpasses at LAPD cruisers and that an Australian journalist was shot with a rubber bullet fired by National Guard personnel. Standoffs between protestors, the LAPD and the National Guard have reportedly ensued, resulting in law enforcement using tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bangs against protestors, as reported by AP news. 

The LAPD issued an official statement on Friday that a 1979 internal department policy barred the LAPD from taking any law enforcement action to obtain information regarding a person’s immigration status, and from partaking in any immigration enforcement actions. The statement also noted that the department focused its efforts on maintaining public safety for everyone and encouraged immigrant communities to contact the police when needed. Yesterday, the LAPD announced that the city was on “Tactical Alert,” had issued a dispersal order, and that police would conduct arrests.

National Public Radio, the Washington Post and local residents have reported that while some violent clashes have occurred between protestors and law enforcement, most demonstrators have remained peaceful.