Gavin Newsom, Indian American Reps Slam Trump’s LA Guard Move

India-West News Desk

LOS ANGELES, CA — California is on edge following President Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles, bypassing state authority and sparking a political and legal firestorm. The city, was grappling with unrest after an immigration raid by ICE, and now finds itself caught in what many leaders are calling a dangerous act of political posturing.

Governor Gavin Newsom responded with fury, declaring that his administration is suing Trump for what he called an “unconstitutional” seizure of state powers. “This is exactly what Donald Trump wanted,” Newsom said on X. “He flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard… It will allow him to go into ANY STATE and do the same thing. We’re suing him.”

In another post, Newsom outlined his view of the crisis: “1) Local law enforcement didn’t need help. 2) Trump sent troops anyway — to manufacture chaos and violence. 3) Trump succeeded. 4) Now things are destabilized and we need to send in more law enforcement just to clean up Trump’s mess.”

According to The New York Times, the Guard deployment marks the first time since 1965 — during the civil rights movement — that a president has overridden a governor’s authority to send troops into a state without consent. The Times called it a confrontation Trump had “been waiting for,” describing it as a move designed to provoke a showdown with a top political adversary over immigration, a central theme of his agenda.

“We expected this, we prepared for this,” Newsom told the Times. “This is not surprising — for them to succeed, California must fail.”

Indian American Lawmakers

Indian American members of Congress were outspoken in condemning the federal action.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) called the episode “a test of federalism,” warning that Trump’s override of Newsom’s authority “defies the Constitution and the American principle of limited federal power.” He said “Political violence must be condemned—but so must executive overreach. California had control.”

Calling the National Guard deployment a “dangerous escalation,” Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) said the Trump administration had overstepped constitutional bounds by acting without Governor Newsom’s consent. “Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass have made it clear: there is no unmet need. This is not about restoring order. It is about the Administration seeking to inflame tensions and provoke violence from protesters to justify further crackdowns,” Bera said. He urged demonstrators to remain peaceful and called on law enforcement to show restraint, emphasizing that “the right to peacefully protest is fundamental and it must be protected.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) accused the administration of militarizing the crisis: “Over the weekend, the Trump administration unleashed the National Guard on the people of LA — weaponizing our military against immigrants and citizens alike. They want us to be afraid and to give up. Hell no.”

Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) similarly denounced Trump’s motives, saying, “Trump has purposefully inflamed tensions in Los Angeles by deploying the National Guard to quash protests. He wants to incite violence to distract Americans from the harmful cuts to healthcare and food assistance, designed to give tax breaks to the rich.”

“This isn’t about public safety,” Newsom said bluntly. “It’s about politics. It’s about control. And California won’t back down.”