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What is Insurrection Act? 1807 law Donald Trump could invoke in Los Angeles amid anti-ICE riots
President Donald Trump was asked if he would consider invoking the Insurrection Act amid citywide protests in Los Angeles
President Donald Trump was asked if he would consider invoking the Insurrection Act amid citywide protests in Los Angeles. The rarely used 1807 law allows the president to deploy active-duty military members on US soil. The Trump administration has already sent thousands of National Guard troops and about 700 Marines to LA despite objections from California Gov Gavin Newsom and other local leaders.
“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see. Last night was terrible, and the night before that was terrible," Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Tuesday.
What is the Insurrection Act?
The Insurrection Act of 1807 is a federal law granting the president authority to deploy military forces domestically to suppress insurrections, rebellions, or domestic violence that obstruct federal or state law.
The Act allows the president to:
Deploy active-duty military or federalized National Guard to quell insurrections at a state’s request.
Restore order when rebellions impede federal law enforcement.
Suppress domestic violence or conspiracies that deprive citizens of rights or hinder state laws, if state authorities fail.
The president has near-unilateral discretion to determine when conditions justify deployment, requiring only a proclamation ordering insurgents to disperse. No immediate congressional approval is needed, though the Posse Comitatus Act (1878) restricts military law enforcement roles unless authorized.
Deployments are subject to judicial review, and Congress can intervene via funding cuts or the War Powers Resolution. The Act does not specify duration limits.
The Insurrection Act was invoked in 1808 for smuggling enforcement and in 1832 during South Carolina’s Nullification Crisis. Presidents Eisenhower (1957, Little Rock) and Kennedy (1962–63, Mississippi, Alabama) used it to enforce desegregation. Deployed in 1992 for the Los Angeles riots (7,000 troops) after Rodney King’s beating, at California’s request.
Mayor Karen Bass calls on Trump to stop ICE raids
The Los Angeles mayor said her administration has heard the ICE raids could continue for the next 30 days, if not longer.
“It’s a sense of intimidation and fear that is just so unnecessary and so corrosive to our city,” Bass said at a Tuesday news conference. The mayor said she would place a call to President Trump asking him to stop the raids.
