California Gov. Gavin Newsom urged U.S. President Donald Trump to stop targeting immigrants and arrest him instead after the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles on Monday.
Trump had already sent 2,000 National Guard troops to the city on Sunday as violence escalated during three days of demonstrations driven by outrage over the president’s ramped-up enforcement of his immigration policy that critics say is tearing migrant families apart.
Demonstrators protest outside a downtown jail in Los Angeles following two days of clashes with police during a series of immigration raids on June 8, 2025.
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Monday’s protests saw fewer violent clashes between civilians and U.S. military forces, as thousands of participants marched peacefully at city hall and hundreds outside of a federal detention centre where some immigrants are being held following sweeping citywide raids.
Hundreds of protesters gather to demand an immediate end to Immigration and Customs Enforcement workplace raids in Los Angeles, Calif., on June 8, 2025.
(PhotTayfun Coskun / Getty Images
On Monday, Trump endorsed the arrest of Newsom by Tom Homan, the U.S. border czar, telling reporters, “I would do it, I think it’s great.”
Trump encourages his border czar to arrest Gavin Newsom: ‘I would do it’
On Tuesday, Newsom responded to Trump in a television interview saying, “Get it over with, arrest me.”
“If you need some head to scalp, do it with me, but stop messing with these kids, stop messing with four-year-olds, kids in elementary school,” he continued, adding there are hundreds of students in California who are not attending their graduation ceremonies in fear of their classmates being detained by ICE.
Time to grow up @realdonaldtrump. pic.twitter.com/Y08U8dV5FZ
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) June 10, 2025
Last week, 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes Da Silva from Milford, Mass., was absent from his girlfriend’s graduation, where he was supposed to play drums in the school band, because he was detained by ICE on his way to volleyball practice.
Still in their gowns, students rallied for his return after the ceremony.
Family and classmates of Marcelo Gomes Da Silva protested outside of Milford Town Hall on June 1, 2025, a day after the teen was detained by ICE on his way to volleyball practice.
Jessica Rinaldi / Getty Images
Gomes Da Silva was released from custody on bond on June 6.
Despite his call to Trump, Newsom has not been charged with any crimes, and there is no evidence that he has committed an offence or broken any laws, nor has he been accused by anyone in government of conduct that could lead to criminal charges, according to NBC News.
The outlet added that Trump’s statement was followed by a warning from Homan, who suggested over the weekend that state and local officials could face arrest and criminal charges if they interfere with federal agents executing raids.
‘They spit, we hit’: Trump threatens anti-ICE protesters in LA
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has arrested numerous political and judicial officials, alleging they acted in contravention of its anti-immigration mandate.
Ras Baraka, the Democratic mayor of Newark, N.J., was arrested by ICE during a visit to a federal immigration detention centre that he says is violating safety protocols.
Similarly, Democratic U.S. House member LaMonica McIver was charged after visiting an ICE detention facility in New Jersey.
In April, a sitting Wisconsin judge, Hannah Dugan, was also taken into custody and charged with crimes that allegedly obstructed the detention of an undocumented immigrant, according to the FBI.
On Tuesday, United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said before the House Committee that military personnel would remain in Los Angeles for 60 days to “ensure that those rioters, looters and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we’re not going anywhere.”
Trump, who has repeatedly referred to Newsom as “Newscum” this week, also said in a Truth Social post that the protesters in Los Angeles were “violent insurrectionist mobs” who “are swarming and attacking federal agents,” adding that “order will be restored and the Illegals will be expelled.”
As the protests escalated, Trump continued to comment on social media, writing Monday, “Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!”
In January, on his first day of his second term in office, the president pardoned 1,500 people charged with crimes for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, including those convicted of assaulting police officers.
Following Trump’s claims of insurgency, Newsom responded to Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller’s X comments, which accused the governor of overseeing “a criminal sanctuary for millions of illegal alien invaders, cartel killers, foreign terrorists, transnational gangs and insurrectionist mobs,” with the rebuttal: “The only people defending insurrectionists are you and @realDonaldTrump…or, are we pretending like you didn’t pardon 1500 of them?”
The only people defending insurrectionists are you and @realDonaldTrump.
Or, are we pretending like you didn’t pardon 1500 of them? https://t.co/0kinmoOdeJ
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 10, 2025
Newsom also confirmed Monday that California will sue Trump over his deployment of the National Guard to quash protests without the consent of the governor.
The deployment of the National Guard without the permission of a state governor marked a significant escalation against those seeking to hamper the government’s mass deportation efforts.
The last time a president invoked this power was in 1965, when Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
— With files from The Associated Press