Updated June 9, 2025 at 7:18 PM EDT

The Trump administration is mobilizing 700 Marines based out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., for Los Angeles, the scene of protests against immigration enforcement operations, a defense official confirmed with NPR before it was publicly announced.

U.S. Northern Command said in a statement on Monday that the infantry battalion had been put on "alert status" over the weekend and will be working with the National Guard "who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area."

Another U.S. official told NPR the mobilization was not an invocation of the Insurrection Act. President Trump, though he has referred to protesters as " insurrectionists ," has not said that the clashes amount to an insurrection.

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