700 Marines from Twentynine Palms given greenlight to deploy to support National Guard in LA

Erika I. Ritchie, The Orange County Register on Jun 9, 2025

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LOS ANGELES — About 700 light infantry Marines from Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms have been given the green light to deploy to Los Angeles in support of the Army National Guard, a spokesman from U.S. Northern Command said Monday, June 9.

The order came from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who on Sunday, June 8, called up guardsmen after violent protests broke out over immigration enforcement.

About 300 members of the California Army National Guard’s 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team are in Los Angeles, Paramount and Compton. The 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines would support the soldiers, who have been placed under federal command, to protect federal personnel and buildings, said John Ingle, as spokesman for U.S. Northern Command.

By 2:45 p.m. Monday afternoon, the Marines’ status was moved to “activated” for deployment. The number of Marines requested by the Northern Command, which is overseeing this operation, was increased from 500 to 700, Ingle said.

“That means they are no longer preparing to deploy, but they’ve been given the thumbs up to begin the process to move out,” he said, adding that it was not clear whether they will head out by truck by Monday night or Tuesday morning.

The Marines, a 1st Marine Division infantry battalion, will be “kitted up similar to what the National Guard uses,” he added, but didn’t specify the actual weapons and vehicles that would be used.

Earlier in the afternoon, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office said, “From our understanding, this is moving Marines from one base to another base. At this time, the information we have is that Marines are not being deployed (there is a difference between that and being mobilized).”

The state has sued the Trump administration over the deployment of the National Guard. State officials said the move was unnecessary and Attorney General Rob Bonta said it “trampled” California’s sovereignty.

“The level of escalation is completely unwarranted, uncalled for, and unprecedented — mobilizing the best-in-class branch of the U.S. military against its own citizens,” the governor’s press office said in its tweet about the readying of the Marines.

Ingle said the use of the Marines comes by order of the president and the secretary of defense.

“They can be deployed to protect federal employees and buildings, similar to Marines who were used to fight the California wildfires and those who were sent to the border,” Ingle said.

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(Staff reporter Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report.)

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