𝗧𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗜𝗫 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞𝗦 𝗪𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 $𝟭𝟯𝟰,𝟬𝟬𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗧𝗔𝗫 𝗗𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗦

 Sources: Los Angeles Times, PBS, LA 1ST

More than a month after President Donald Trump ordered 700 U.S. Marines into Los Angeles, the Pentagon has announced their withdrawal, a move hailed by local leaders as a long-overdue end to an unnecessary and provocative show of military force on city streets.

The Marines were deployed on June 9, just four days into peaceful protests sparked by the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration raids. The decision to send active-duty military into a major U.S. city was met with immediate backlash from California leaders, civil rights advocates, and residents who argued there was never a legitimate need for such an escalation.

Despite White House claims that the deployment was necessary to restore order, the Marines’ presence was largely confined to standing guard at federal buildings downtown and in West Los Angeles. During their stay, they were involved in at least one incident,  detaining a man outside a VA appointment, but otherwise spent weeks with little to do, as demonstrations dwindled and calm returned to the streets.

Local officials say the deployment did far more harm than good.

"This was an unnecessary, unprecedented, and unconstitutional assault on our city," said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “There was no chaos to quell. This was political theater staged at the expense of Angelenos and our service members.”

Bass, flanked by veterans' groups during a Monday press conference, celebrated the Marines’ exit as “a win for Los Angeles, and for our troops, who deserve better than to be used as props in a domestic political fight.”

Governor Gavin Newsom, who sued the federal government last month over the troop deployments, issued a sharply worded statement following the Pentagon’s announcement.

“There was never a need for the military to deploy against civilians in Los Angeles,” Newsom said. “The damage is done. Our communities were terrorized, and our Guard members and Marines were exploited. It’s time to end this militarization once and for all.”

Newsom’s lawsuit argued that President Trump violated federal law by deploying troops without notifying the governor, a requirement for using the National Guard in a non-federalized capacity. While a district court sided with California, returning control of the Guard to the state, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals later blocked that decision. The case is ongoing.

While the Marines will now leave, roughly 2,000 National Guard troops remain stationed in the region. Officials say they are primarily assigned to monitor federal buildings and support immigration enforcement operations.

Critics have described the deployments as not only heavy-handed but fundamentally misguided. “These are armed service members trained for warzones, not city streets,” said L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis. “They should never have been used to intimidate peaceful demonstrators.”

Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, a vocal critic of the deployment, didn’t mince words in her response: “The Marines weren’t sent to keep the peace, they were sent to provoke. It was about optics, not safety.”

Even some within the Defense Department reportedly questioned the purpose and cost of the deployment, which has been estimated at $134 million.

Meanwhile, immigrant communities in Los Angeles continue to reel from the chilling effects of the raids and military presence. Public transit ridership has dropped sharply, neighborhood streets remain eerily quiet, and many undocumented residents have been avoiding clinics and hospitals, fearing detainment.

Civil liberties groups say the psychological damage is lasting,  and that it was all avoidable.

“The Trump administration used the military to send a message,  not to protect, but to scare,” said a spokesperson for the ACLU of Southern California. “That’s not democracy. That’s authoritarianism.”

As the Marines prepare to leave, advocates and officials are renewing calls for the remaining National Guard troops to also go, and for Congress to prevent such deployments from happening again without clear, legal justification.

“It’s a relief to see the Marines go,” said Mayor Bass. “But the fight against the misuse of federal power is far from over.”