Newsom criticizes federal immigration raids and military deployment, outlines state responses

Governor Gavin Newsom criticized recent federal immigration enforcement operations and the deployment of federalized National Guard and U.S. Marines in Southern California, saying they are terrorizing communities and hurting small businesses.

Newsom spoke on church grounds in the Bell and Downey area, saying roughly 5,000 military personnel were deployed — about 4,000 federalized National Guard members and “close to a thousand U.S. Marines” — and that the mission’s effective utilization rate was closer to 5 percent rather than the 26.6 percent the federal government reported. “Weakness masquerading as strength,” Newsom said, repeating the phrase as he criticized the White House’s tactics.

The governor said the deployments and unmarked-car workplace actions have produced “indiscriminate” effects on residents: workers not showing up to jobs, empty tables at family-run restaurants and malls, and people carrying passports to prove legal status. Newsom described meeting a longtime small-business owner who said the business had lost roughly 80 percent of its customers and a 15-year employee who is too frightened to come to work after nearby enforcement actions. He also recounted meeting the family of a recently deceased California Highway Patrol officer and said the atmosphere of fear was harming community trust in local law enforcement.

Why it matters: Newsom framed the deployments as a national preview of tactics that, he warned, could be exported to other states, and urged state responses to protect residents and preserve community trust. He said California has increased legal and oversight capacity in recent years — including resourcing state Department of Justice work — and has budgeted money for legal representation for affected residents.

State actions and options discussed

Newsom said the state budget had carried forward “over $75,000,000” from the prior year to support additional legal representation and that the administration has been coordinating with immigrant-rights leaders and the Attorney General’s office on oversight and support. He also said his team is actively exploring options with the legislature to respond politically and legally: calling a special session or pursuing an urgency measure that would allow the legislature to move forward on new federal-district maps and other emergency steps. “There are two alternatives if you’re interested. You can call a special session, and we can move forward. There are also a number of legal experts that have come to us exploring an alternative through an urgency measure,” Newsom said.

Newsom framed those options as requiring legislative consent or voter approval, saying any path would “require those same voters to make a determination on the basis of current facts” if a ballot process were used. He cautioned that such moves are not undertaken lightly and said his team was working in real time with members of the legislature and outside legal experts.

Questions from the press and context

Reporters asked Newsom about the tone of his office’s social media and whether naming and criticizing White House advisers — the press office had recently criticized Stephen Miller on social media — undercuts the distinction he drew between using moral and formal authority. Newsom said his office would continue to push back on what he called cruelty and that he “has no apologies for standing tall and firm and pushing back against their cruelty.”

Newsom repeatedly emphasized that the state’s actions are constrained by federal jurisdiction and court review. He said lower-court rulings had been “pretty obvious” in his view but that appellate and Supreme Court outcomes remain uncertain. He urged vigilance about public-safety risks tied to enforcement tactics.

Other remarks

Newsom said he wants demobilized National Guard members returned to state control to resume duties such as wildfire response, vegetation management, drug-interdiction task forces and community engagement. He warned the current operations risk eroding trust in local police because residents cannot tell which personnel are federal agents and which are local officers.

Ending

Newsom said the situation demanded urgent attention from Washington, that the state would continue to provide legal and resource support to affected communities, and that his team would pursue legislative and legal avenues to protect residents’ rights.