Pentagon defends troop deployments to Los Angeles to protect ICE agents

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday defended a $134-million deployment of Marines and National Guard to Los Angeles, saying they would safeguard officers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose roundups of alleged immigration offenders have triggered days of clashes.

"We believe ICE agents should be allowed to be safe in doing their operations, and we have deployed National Guard and the Marines to protect them in the execution of their duties," Hegseth told a hearing in Congress.

"Because we ought to be able to enforce immigration law in this country."

Some 700 Marines have arrived in the Los Angeles area under orders from President Donald Trump, who has also activated 4,000 National Guard troops to quell protests despite objections from California Governor Gavin Newsom and other local leaders.

Some 2,100 of those troops are operating in Los Angeles, a US official said.

Bryn MacDonnell, who is performing comptroller duties at the Pentagon, told lawmakers the deployment's cost was about $134 million and included travel, housing and food for troops.

Democratic lawmakers sought answers from Hegseth about the deployments, and raised concerns about sending active-duty US troops to a mission that they said would be better performed by law enforcement officers.

"This is a deeply unfair position to put our Marines in. Their service should be honoured. It should not be exploited," said Representative Betty McCollum, a Democrat from Minnesota, on a House Appropriations subcommittee.

McCollum said the Los Angeles protests did not mirror the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which was the last time the Insurrection Act was invoked to allow the US military to directly participate in civilian law enforcement.

Then-President George H.W. Bush deployed US forces to Los Angeles after California's governor requested military aid to suppress unrest following the trial of Los Angeles police officers who beat Black motorist Rodney King.

However, Trump has not invoked the Insurrection Act, and the US military has said the Marines would only be deployed to "support the protection of federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area."

At a different hearing, Marine Corps Commandant General Eric Smith said the Marines being deployed were trained in crowd control, and have shields and batons.

"They do not have arrest authority," Smith told the Senate Armed Services Committee, adding they were in a support role.

The US military has a long history of deployments within the United States. National Guard and active-duty troops are deployed for natural disasters and other events, including helping set up temporary hospitals during the pandemic.

During the 2020 wave of nationwide protests over racial injustice, more than 17,000 National Guard troops were activated by 23 states.

What is rare, however, is sending active-duty troops during times of civil disturbance.

US Marines are trained for conflicts around the world - from the Middle East to Africa - and are also used for rapid deployments in case of emergencies, such as threats to US embassies.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, said the operation risked the United States' traditionally strong support for its military.

"This escalatory and inflammatory use of military men and women against their fellow citizens threatens to be a stain on their honor and a blow to their support and credibility among Americans," Blumenthal said.