Trump's fake mission? National Guard Troops speak out on Los Angeles deployment during anti-ICE protests - Here's what soldiers revealed

As US President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard deployment to Los Angeles during anti-immigration protests last month, the soldiers shared their ordeal as they questioned their mission in Los Angeles, calling it a "fake mission".

The commuters have been cursing the convoys clogging the pathways as they continue to fight the protesters demonstrating at the LA protests. All this has taken a toll on the deployment.

In an interview to the New York Times, one of the soldiers said, "They gave Disneyland tickets to the people who worked in the wildfires. Nobody’s handing out Disneyland tickets now.”

The outlet interviewed around two dozen people, including soldiers, officers and civilians who worked closely with the troops.

Meanwhile, six members of the Guard, including officers, infantrymen and two officials who were serving in the leadership roles, talked about low morale and were concerned that the deployment may affect recruitment for the state-based military force in the upcoming years.

The soldiers talked on the condition of anonymity since they are barred from discussing the federal deployment publicly.

'Fake mission'

Some of these people said that they themselves raised objections on this, or know someone who objected, that is, either because they did not want to be involved in Trump's immigration crackdowns. While some felt the Trump administration had made them stand on the streets on a "fake mission".

As they were low on morale, at least 105 member guards took counseling from behavioural health officers, the Guard officer said.

Notably, the California National Guard had 72 soldiers, and their enlistment was set to expire during the deployment. Out of those 72, at least two have left the guard and the other 55 have hinted that they will also not extend their work, the office of Governor Gavin Newsom said. Newsom is currently fighting against Trump's deployment in court.

“The moral injuries of this operation, I think, will be enduring,” one of the two Guard officials said. “This is not what the military of our country was designed to do, at all.”

However, these six soldiers are just a small fraction of the thousands of troops deployed by the Trump administration to Los Angeles. The other members have had no issue participating in the operation.