Protests broke out in Los Angeles on June 6 after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided workplaces in the city and arrested 44 people for alleged immigration violations.
Days of demonstrations resulted in President Trump deploying about 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the city, and a widespread circulation of falsehoods and misleading claims on social media.
Here are the facts.
Claim #1 – Los Angeles was a violent “war zone” during protests.
This claim is FALSE.
Many social media videos exaggerated the scale of these protests, using video game clips and footage from past demonstrations to depict a city overrun by violence.
One widely shared video of vandalized police cars set on fire, reposted by Republican Senator Ted Cruz, originated from March 2020 protests in response to the death of George Floyd.
Another video that was falsely described as undocumented immigrants pouring gasoline over a car and lighting themselves on fire was actually from a March 2024 street takeover, a public gathering where people perform automotive stunts.
The ICE protests were mostly contained to a couple of city blocks in Downtown Los Angeles, about one square mile. While some vandalism and property damage occurred, the vast majority of protesters were peaceful.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she had “not heard of any” protesters being booked for violence or rioting under California Penal Code 404: “The portrayal is that all of our cities are in chaos, rioting is happening everywhere, and it is a lie.”
Claim #2 – The National Guard and Marines saved the city from “burning to the ground.”
This claim is FALSE.
Trump posted to Truth Social that if he did not send Marine and National Guard troops to Los Angeles, “that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now.”
But the National Guard did not play a major role in quelling protests, which was mostly left to local enforcement. Their primary role was to stand guard in front of federal buildings, and block the entrances to a courthouse and immigration detention center in Downtown Los Angeles.
Air Force General Gregory Guillot told the Los Angeles Times that the Marines were also “limited in their authority and were deployed only to defend federal property and federal personnel.”
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell released a statement insisting that the LAPD did not request National Guard intervention and was not formally notified of their arrival.
He added that the protests were “nowhere near a level” where troops would be needed to maintain the peace, and that their deployment would create “a significant logistical and operational challenge” for local law enforcement.
Trump also acted against the wishes of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who responded with a lawsuit calling the President’s actions an “unprecedented power grab” that stoked “fear and terror” and “heightened tensions with protesters and residents.”
Mayor Bass agreed, calling the deployment “an attempt to spread fear” among the city’s immigrants after about 90 troops and dozens of ICE officers stormed a mostly empty park near Downtown Los Angeles: “There was no disorder that required that.”
Claim #3 – Federal intervention was necessary to save Los Angeles from a “migrant invasion.”
This claim is FALSE.
Trump and his allies have defended his use of the National Guard, claiming that federal intervention was necessary to “liberate” the city from a “migrant invasion.” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called Los Angeles “proof” of how mass migration “unravels societies.”
Federal and state data do not support the existence of a migrant invasion in California. The number of undocumented immigrants has declined from an estimated 2.9 million in 2010 to 2.6 million in 2022, probably because the state is too expensive, researchers say.
California recently overtook Japan as the world’s fourth-largest economy. Violent crime is down, and the unemployment rate is close to the national average. Crime and gang violence have also declined in Los Angeles since the 1990s despite an increase in population.
Trump has long blamed immigrants for California’s troubles and characterized them as criminals, despite research that shows undocumented immigrants commit crimes at substantially lower rates than native-born citizens. The majority of immigrants arrested by ICE do not have a criminal conviction.
The White House sued the city of Los Angeles in June over its “sanctuary city” laws, which limit police from directly helping immigration enforcement. Leaders of sanctuary cities like Los Angeles say these laws help make communities safer, because immigrants can communicate with local police without fear of deportation.
Claim #4 – ICE made unconstitutional arrests and detained people without “probable cause.”
This claim is TRUE.
On July 12, a federal judge found that ICE had been detaining and arresting people in California without probable cause and denying detainees access to lawyers.
The court ruled that ICE must find “reasonable suspicion” to make arrests or conduct roving patrols, preventing them from relying solely on characteristics like race or ethnicity, accent, spoken language, occupation, or being at a particular location.
The ruling came after ICE arrested over 300 migrants working at legal marijuana farms in Southern California and conducted similar raids at construction sites, hotels, restaurants, and Home Depot parking lots.
ICE arrested about 2,800 people in Los Angeles from June 6 to July 8, according to federal authorities. After the ruling, which an appeals court upheld on August 1, the number of arrests decreased to about 1,400 people from July 8 to August 6.