Donald Trump has stated he would “certainly” consider invoking an 1807 law as protests intensify across Los Angeles.
The unrest follows a wave of arrests carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in neighborhoods with large Latino populations. Upon returning to the White House, Trump reaffirmed his commitment to cracking down on illegal immigration.
Over the weekend, protests erupted in response, initially beginning peacefully but escalating as tensions grew. In response, President Trump deployed National Guard troops in an effort to restore order.
Although demonstrations started calmly, the situation has deteriorated, with cars set ablaze and dozens of arrests reported.
On Saturday (June 7) Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard members to the Los Angeles area.
“If Governor Gavin Newscum [sic], of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Protests have been erupting all over LA over Trump’s immigration raids (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
California governor Gavin Newsom reacted on X following the National Guard green light: “I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles county and return them to my command. We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved.”
On Monday evening (June 9) Trump ordered another 2,000 National Guard members to the city and the Pentagon called up 700 marines to help.
However, Trump has said he would consider invoking the Insurrection Act 1807 to tackle the public unrest in the city.
Trump has authorised the deployment of 2,000 troops (RINGO CHIU/AFP via Getty Images)
This law allows the president to use active-duty military personnel to enact law-enforcement duties inside the US.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday (10 June), Trump said: “If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see.”
The current use of troops is covered not by the Insurrection Act but Trump instead cited a similar federal law named Title 10.
The rarely used Insurrection Act was written in broad terms which means presidents have a wide range on when and how its powers can be mobilised.
The law has been invoked in the past, including by President Ulysses S Grant who invoked it against a rise of racist violence by the Ku Klux Klan after the US Civil War.
President Dwight D Eisenhower invoked it to ensure the US Army would escort African-American students to their high school in Little Rock, Arkansas after the state’s governor decided against complying with a federal desegregation order for the school in 1957.
It was also invoked in 1992 when riots broke out in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four white police officers for the beating of Rodney King, an African-American man.
