Vice President JD Vance will travel to Los Angeles on Friday for a visit to a city where clashes between protesters and law enforcement officials have become a focal point of the opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.
While in Los Angeles, Vance is expected to deliver remarks as well as tour federal facilities, including a mobile command center and meet with Marines.
Vance’s visit to the city is the latest in the battle between Democrats and the Trump administration over its hardline deportation policies after an appeals court ruled in the president’s favor Thursday.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it’s “likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority” in deploying California National Guard troops to respond to protests in L.A. The decision stemmed from the lawsuit California Attorney General Rob Bonta brought against the Trump administration after Trump sent the troops to the city without the approval of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
On Wednesday, U.S. Northern Command said that it was activating 2,000 additional National Guard troops in L.A. to “support the protection of federal functions, personnel, and property in the greater Los Angeles area.” That brings the total number of National Guard troops deployed to the city to more than 4,000 since the protests erupted there earlier this month. The president also deployed U.S. Marines to assist law enforcement in the response to demonstrations.
The president’s and administration’s immigration actions have sparked outrage among Democratic lawmakers, including California Sen. Alex Padilla, who was forcibly removed and handcuffed after he tried to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a briefing last week.
The protests formed after ICE agents raided three places in central L.A. in early June, triggering a domino effect of similar demonstrations nationwide. While they’ve dissipated in recent weeks, one began on Thursday when federal agents working with ICE came to Dodgers Stadium “requested permission to access the parking lots.” The Major League Baseball team, however, said that it blocked immigration agents from entering the ballpark.