National Guard firefighters finally back to work — but Trump’s militarization of LA has pulled cops from the street and teachers out of classrooms

Task Force Rattlesnake is a specialized crew of over 300 Cal Guard members who partner with CAL FIRE to prevent and fight wildfires — clearing brush, cutting fire lines, and deploying on the frontlines of the state’s peak fire season. For weeks, more than half the teams were diverted to Los Angeles under the President’s order, cutting the task force to just 40% capacity while fires flared up across the state.

Thanks Trump: Police off the streets, teachers out of classrooms

The federalization didn’t just pull fire crews. Of the over 4,000 California National Guard members sent to Los Angeles under Trump’s order, the California National Guard estimates that:

• 385 are medical and first responders
• 370 are service workers
• 361 are contractors or work in the building trades
• 355 are police, law enforcement and corrections officials
• 158 are civil servants and government workers
• 170 work in technology
• 158 work are educators and teachers
• 97 work in the agriculture industry

More drugs at the border, fewer troops to stop them

An estimated 32% of CalGuard’s servicemembers dedicated to the state’s Counterdrug Task Force have been reassigned by President Trump to militarize Los Angeles. Typically, under the Governor’s command, nearly 450 servicemembers are deployed statewide, including at ports of entry, to combat transnational criminal organizations and seize illegal narcotics. The consequences are dire – CalGuard’s efforts help ensure the public safety of communities statewide. Since they started drug interdiction efforts in 2021, they have helped seize nearly 31,000 pounds of fentanyl and more than 50 million pills containing fentanyl, with a street value of more than $450 million. 

Big ugly bill

Each day these Californians are in Los Angeles is another day they’re pulled from their jobs, their families, and the missions they were trained for. This disruption comes as Congress debates Trump’s budget proposal — which slashes funding for wildfire prevention, strips health care from over 10 million Americans, and makes cuts to local public safety efforts – all while pouring billions into supercharging the cruel and reckless raids like we have seen in Southern California targeting families, workers and businesses nationwide.