Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, announced on the Senate floor that he placed a hold on President Trump’s nominee to serve as vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, Lieutenant General Thomas Carden, until the Trump Administration releases all remaining U.S. military forces from their unjustified deployment to Los Angeles. Lieutenant General Carden currently serves as second-in-command of Northern Command — the combatant command that has enforced Trump’s orders to militarize Los Angeles. Padilla blasted President Trump for manufacturing a crisis and escalating tensions in the region by deploying 4,000 National Guardsmen and 700 active-duty Marines without Governor Newsom’s consent.

After intense and successful political pressure from Democrats, the Trump Administration finally announced earlier this week that they would release 2,000 National Guard troops from their deployment to Los Angeles; however, approximately 2,000 National Guardsmen and all 700 Marines still remain. In response to the ongoing militarization of Los Angeles, Padilla will oppose any expedited consideration of Carden’s nomination until the Administration:

• Releases every Guardsman and Marine from their federalized deployment to Los Angeles and
• Commits to not sending any Guardsmen from other states to enforce the President’s political demands on California.

Trump’s deployment of the California National Guard went against the wishes of the Governor for the first time since 1965. The Cal Guard serves honorably in overseas deployments in support of our allies and partners, disaster response efforts, and counter-drug missions. Padilla urged Trump to return these troops to their core missions, including wildfire mitigation efforts during peak fire season. He cited that the head of the U.S. Northern Command requested in late June that Secretary Hegseth return 200 troops from the National Guard’s wildfire unit who were stuck in Los Angeles to enact Trump’s political agenda.

Key Excerpts:

• “I rise today to both publicly and clearly explain my hold on this nomination, and to demand that the Trump Administration release all remaining U.S. military forces from the unnecessary and political deployment to Los Angeles.”

• “In order to change the news cycle, which he does so often — to shift the headlines away from his many, many failures — President Trump chose to ramp up ICE raids in California. And when Californians took to the streets to exercise their First Amendment rights by peacefully protesting, Trump responded by federalizing the California National Guard and then later, the U.S. Marines were ordered in to intimidate the people of Los Angeles.”

• “None of these service members signed up to become a political prop. But Trump has put them in this impossible position that he knew would escalate tensions in the region and take them away from their critical missions elsewhere.”

• “Every day that those troops were unnecessarily deployed to Los Angeles was another day that their primary mission went unmet. We’re talking about undermining firefighting and fire mitigation efforts as we are approaching peak wildfire season. This is dangerous and unnecessary.”

• “I want to be very clear about something: my objection is about more than Lieutenant General Carden. None of what we are seeing in Los Angeles through this militarization is business as usual. Deploying the Guard against the wishes of the Governor, against the wishes of the Mayor, and against even the wishes of local law enforcement — the sheriff, the police chief — none of that is normal.”

• “Stop militarizing our cities and using our service members as political pawns.”

Video of Senator Padilla’s full remarks is available here.

Senator Padilla has been outspoken in criticizing Trump’s mass deportations and unprecedented militarization and escalation of tensions by deploying National Guard troops and active-duty U.S. Marines to respond to overwhelmingly peaceful protests in Los Angeles. Padilla recently led the entire Senate Democratic Caucus in demanding that President Trump immediately withdraw all military forces from Los Angeles and cease all threats to deploy the National Guard or active-duty service members to American cities. Padilla spoke on the Senate floor following his forcible removal from Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s press conference, where he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed after attempting to ask a question. He has spoken at a spotlight hearing and on the Senate floor multiple other times to blast President Trump for manufacturing a crisis by launching indiscriminate Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across Los Angeles and using that crisis to dramatically expand executive power.

Last week, Padilla and Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced the VISIBLE Act to require immigration enforcement officers to display clearly visible identification during public-facing enforcement actions. Padilla also led 13 Democratic Senators in a letter criticizing ICE for engaging in counterproductive, theatrical enforcement activities — including raids on courthouses and restaurants — and requesting information from the agency on its mask and uniform policies. Additionally, Padilla is leading legislation to restrict the President’s authority under the 217-year-old Insurrection Act and limit the domestic deployment of military troops for law enforcement purposes.

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