Vice President JD Vance was expected to visit Los Angeles today amid ongoing enforcement actions cracking down on illegal immigration, a major point of emphasis for the Trump administration.
Few details were released about Vance’s visit, including his expected arrival time. Vance departed Joint Base Andrews in Maryland shortly after 8:30 a.m. California time, with his flight expected to be about five hours, likely bound for Los Angeles International Airport.
Visits by the president or vice president typically lead to rolling freeway and road closures to accommodate motorcades, so motorists should be on alert for possible disruptions.
According to the White House, Vance “will tour a multi-agency Federal Joint Operations Center, a Federal Mobile Command Center, meet with leadership and Marines, and deliver brief remarks.”
The nature of those remarks was unclear, but they are likely to continue the administration’s criticism of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders in the state. The administration has blasted local leadership for so-called “sanctuary” policies and accused them of hampering federal efforts to enforce immigration laws and arrest people in the country illegally.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made similar remarks last week during a brief visit to Los Angeles. That visit was highlighted by the brief detention of U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, who was forcibly removed from a Noem news conference, forced to the ground in a hallway and handcuffed. He was released a short time later and met privately with Noem for about 15 minutes.
It was unclear where Vance would be making his remarks. Noem held her news conference at the federal building in West Los Angeles, where U.S. Marines have been stationed in a protective posture. Federalized California National Guard troops, meanwhile, have been stationed at the downtown complex of federal buildings to protect the structures from protests over ongoing immigration raids.
A federal appeals court panel Thursday night rejected a legal challenge by the state of California over President Donald Trump’s federalization and deployment of the National Guard troops without the consent of the governor, who normally oversees the Guard’s operations.
Trump deployed as many as 4,000 National Guard troops, then supplemented that by ordering the deployment of up to 700 Marines to the area. The Marines were expected to primarily protect federal buildings, allowing Guard troops to provide protection for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carrying out raids across the area.