U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the removal of half of the 4,000 National Guard troops who had been sent to Los Angeles to protect federal property and personnel during a spate of protests last month,

Roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines had been deployed. It wasn’t immediately clear how long the rest would stay in the region.

National Guard troops assigned to duty in Los Angeles more than a month ago after protests over immigration enforcement raids are being released from federal duty in Southern California. The Guard members’ activation by the federal government in early June was a flashpoint between the Trump administration and local,