‘We don’t want them here’ Los Angeles mayor says of Guard troops

June 15 (UPI) — Mayor Karen Bass said Sunday that Los Angeles does not need National Guard troops to bolster city police amid protests against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, despite the gatherings turning violent in recent days.

“We don’t want them here,” Bass said on CNN’s State of the Union. “They don’t need to be here. Our local law enforcement have complete control of this situation.”

President Donald Trump deployed thousands of U.S. National Guard soldiers to Los Angeles to assist ICE with immigration raids of locations that were suspected of employing or harboring undocumented migrants.

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer ruled that Trump must return control of the situation to the Los Angeles Police Department, and that Trump’s deployment of the troops was unconstitutional.

But hours later, a federal appeals court panel lifted Breyer’s order, allowing the soldiers to continue to assist in the immigration raids.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has also been critical of Trump’s troop deployment and said the president overstepped his bounds without first seeking input from state or local officials.

Newsom called Trump a “stone cold liar” in response to the president’s comments that he consulted the California governor before deploying the soldiers.

Immigration raids continue. However, Trump has appeared to be moderating on targeting some workplaces, including some farms, meatpacking plants, hotels and restaurants.

Amid the backdrop of the raids and protests, thousands of people rallied in the streets Saturday to protest Trump’s policies that his critics have called authoritarian. The “No Kings” rallies took place in cities across the country at the same time that the U.S. paraded high0end military equipment through the streets of Washington in an event that was estimated to cost as much as $45 million. Saturday was also Trump’s 79th birthday.