(WASHINGTON) — Vice President JD Vance is traveling to Los Angeles on Friday as protests against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown continue to grip the city.
Vance, a Marine veteran, will tour a multi-agency Federal Joint Operations Center as well as a Federal Mobile Command Center. He will also meet with leadership and Marines before giving remarks, according to his office.
His visit comes as protests and law enforcement clash in Los Angeles over Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s raids and deportations — a key part of President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Another conflict in the city stems from Trump’s decision to deploy thousands of National Guardsmen and hundreds of Marines to LA against Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wishes.
A federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that Trump can keep the National Guard in Los Angeles for now — allowing the president to continue to use the military to quell protests against his deportation plans. Trump called the decision a “BIG WIN” in a social media post.
Earlier this month, Vance attacked the protests and used the events unfolding in LA to push for passage of the megabill that would advance Trump’s legislative agenda.
“Insurrectionists carrying foreign flags are attacking immigration enforcement officers, while one half of America’s political leadership has decided that border enforcement is evil,” Vance wrote in an X post. “Time to pass President Trump’s beautiful bill and further secure the border.”
Many Democrats have spoken out against the Trump administration’s immigration practices. Last week, California Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat, was forcibly removed from a Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference on the topic after he said he was trying to ask a question.
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