This story was originally published in UCLA Blueprint.
The Trump administration’s assault on Los Angeles began on June 6, 2025, with the asserted aim of capturing and deporting “the worst of the worst,” which it defined as dangerous criminals unlawfully present in the country.
First to arrive were agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, both of which are law enforcement agencies under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security. They were quickly followed by federalized troops of the California National Guard, and then U.S. Marines. Each of those authorizations and deployments came with implications for our Constitution and our history.
It was the Marines that especially caught the nation’s attention, at least at first. After all, there is no greater image of authoritarianism than armed combat troops in the street, wearing their camouflage fatigues, trained to fight the nation’s foreign enemies yet deployed instead on American soil (ordered there on the anniversary of D-Day, no less) and presumably prepared to face off against Americans.
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