A soldier stands next to graffiti in Los Angeles on June 14, 2025. He is part of a National Guard deployment sent to the city to help quell ongoing protests against the recent immigration crackdown. (U.S. Army)
WASHINGTON — A veterans medical center in Los Angeles is closed and hundreds of appointments canceled amid unrest and riots following an immigration enforcement crackdown, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
VA police and the medical director for the Veterans Affairs Los Angeles Ambulatory Care Center were onsite Wednesday to assess damage from vandalism to the downtown facility and decide whether to resume in-person care Friday, the VA said.
“They’ve run amuck at our ambulatory clinic where people can walk in for their appointments,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said early Wednesday in a TV interview. “We’ve transferred as much as we can to tele-health [appointments]. I’m tired of this. We’re letting the folks in LA run wild. We can’t get the services to the people who need it.”
President Donald Trump on Tuesday night sent another 2,000 troops from the California National Guard to restore order to greater Los Angeles, according to U.S. Northern Command. The National Guard now numbers more than 4,100 in the city. About 700 Marines also were deployed.
The troops are there to “support the protection of federal functions, personnel and property in the greater Los Angeles area,” NORTHCOM said in a formal statement.
The Veterans Affairs Los Angeles Ambulatory Care Center — a sprawling, five-story medical complex — has been shut down since June 9 when vandals first targeted the facility with spray-painted messages condemning the Trump administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the VA said.
More than 1,800 veterans’ appointments have been impacted by the closing, the VA said. Some of the in-person office visits have been rescheduled or were shifted to online appointments, the agency said.
The medical center is part of the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. It offers a range of outpatient services that include primary and specialty care, outpatient surgery, substance abuse treatment, amputation care, suicide prevention, cancer care, a pharmacy, lab and VA benefits office.
Collins sent separate letters last week to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass informing them of the facility’s damage, the temporary shutdown and the effect on veterans.
“Your city’s failure to maintain law and order in Los Angeles is coming between veterans and the health care they’ve earned,” Collins wrote in the June 12 letter to Bass.
He accused the mayor of “virtue signaling” opposition to Trump’s anti-immigration policies and raids conducted by ICE that have led to arrests of individuals on immigration violations.
In separate letters to Bass and Newsom, Collins asked for reassurance that the neighborhood where the clinic operates will be safe for patients and clinic staff.
He also requested the city and state cover the costs for repair and removing graffiti from the building.
Neither Newsom nor Bass has responded to the letters, a spokesman for Collins said Wednesday.
Bass on Tuesday lifted an overnight curfew that she ordered last week to quell protests as Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines.
Thousands of people have protested in the city’s downtown where government buildings are located, The Associated Press reported. Bass said a small number of “bad actors” were responsible for the disorder, while most of the protesters acted peacefully.
Buildings have been vandalized, shops looted, and a freeway was blocked as city and county law enforcement used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds, the AP reported.
