WASHINGTON

US Sen. Bernie Sanders slammed President Donald Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard and the Marines in response to immigration protests in Los Angeles, California.

"Let's be clear: Trump's deployment of the National Guard and Marines in California is not about the protests. It is not about ICE and it's really not about immigration.

"It's about using extremely dubious legal authority to expand his never-ending grasp for more power and his effort to move this country toward authoritarianism," Sanders said Tuesday in a recorded video message on X.

Protests erupted Friday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided local businesses in Los Angeles and detained hundreds of people suspected of living in the US illegally. The Trump administration has continued to carry out the raids in defiance of community opposition.

Trump decided to deploy the National Guard over the week, defying objections from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who have warned that doing so only serves to inflame tensions caused by the president's mass deportation raids.

Roughly 4,000 National Guardsmen and 700 US Marines have been deployed under Trump's orders.

Sanders said it is the governor of a state who deploys the National Guard, not the president of the US.

"Trump's argument for his deployment of the troops is absurd and laughable. Does anyone really believe that we are in the midst of a foreign invasion or a rebellion against the United States? That, believe it or not, is his legal argument," he added.

Trump on Tuesday defended his decision to deploy troops to Los Angeles.

He said the National Guard would remain in the city "until there's no danger" but later claimed to have "stopped the violence in LA."

Newsom filed a motion Tuesday to block Trump's troop deployment.

"I just filed an emergency motion to block Trump’s illegal deployment of Marines and National Guard in Los Angeles," he said on X.