Tensions between the Trump administration and California intensified this weekend as President Donald Trump decided to deploy 2,000 National Guard members to the Los Angeles area, a move the state’s Democratic leaders cast as an unnecessary escalation amid protests over the administration’s immigration policies.

Gavin Newsom, who said Trump wanted to create a "spectacle." U.S. Northern Command said about 300 soldiers were on the ground at three locations in the greater Los Angeles area to provide "safety and protection of federal property and personnel.

The Trump administration said it would send 2,000 National Guard troops into Los Angeles after a second day in which protesters confronted immigration agents during raids of local businesses.

Democrats in Congress and some military and law enforcement officials expressed concern about the plan, which Defense Department officials have not yet approved.