"I would like to emphasize that the soldiers will not participate in law enforcement activities," the task force leader told reporters.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — About 200 Marines have moved into Los Angeles and will protect federal property and personnel, a military commander said Friday. Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, commander of Task Force 51, who is overseeing the 4,700 troops deployed, said Friday that the Marines have finished training on civil disturbance.

Did President Trump send the U.S. military to Los Angeles earlier this week to safeguard the city from protesters? Or is this the start of something bigger — an unprecedented push by the president to carry out mass deportations with the help of armed troops?

A military official said the Marines would be on the city’s streets on Wednesday. A federal judge was set to hear California’s request to limit the use of the soldiers.

Marines were seen standing guard outside a federal building in Los Angeles on Friday as they started operations after protests erupted last week over immigration raids.

Democratic governors on Thursday slammed President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines to California amid protests over the administration’s immigration enforcement policies.

Those sweeps are part of a directive from President Trump to find immigrants living in the United States without legal status. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass at a Tuesday news conference said a rally is planned for Tuesday night but that it is not expected to be as large as the protests in recent days,

A U.S. Northern Command spokesman said the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines were expected to head out by trucks to Los Angeles Monday night.