The administration of US President Donald Trump announced on 7 June the dispatch of two thousand National Guard troops to Los Angeles, where protests against raids carried out by federal agents to detain illegal immigrants are continuing for the second day.
Clashes between federal agents and several hundred protesters occurred in Paramount south of Los Angeles, with some demonstrators carrying Mexican flags. Footage from the scene showed dozens of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in green uniforms and gas masks on a road littered with overturned shopping carts in clouds of tear gas.
A second rally in the evening in downtown Los Angeles drew about 60 people chanting “ICE, out of Los Angeles!”, Reuters wrote.
Los Angeles police said on social media X that “several people were detained for refusing to disperse after several warnings.”
The first wave of protests began on Friday night after ICE officers conducted raids in Los Angeles and detained at least 44 people on suspicion of immigration violations.
The White House said Trump signed a presidential memorandum to send National Guard units to Los Angeles “to restore order and eliminate the lawlessness that has been allowed to take root”. Pentagon chief Pete Hagseth said Marine Corps units based at Camp Pendleton have been put on high alert.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, called the decision “deliberately provocative.” In a social media X, he said, “Trump is deploying the National Guard not for lack of police, but for spectacle. Don’t give in to it. No violence. Only peaceful protest.”
On his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “if Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass can’t handle their responsibilities, the federal government will step in and solve the riots and looters the way it should be.” Trump also said demonstrators are henceforth banned from wearing face masks.
The protests highlighted the standoff between the Trump administration, which has been cracking down hard on illegal immigration, and authorities in Los Angeles, which has a significant Latino and foreign-born population.
President Trump has previously pledged to conduct large-scale deportations of illegal immigrants and completely shut down the southern border of the United States. According to the White House, ICE has been tasked with making at least three thousand detentions a day. However, Trump’s critics say the raids detain not only illegal immigrants but also people with legal status, including residency permit holders. These cases have been the subject of lawsuits.