Tensions in Los Angeles are escalating after Donald Trump deployed hundreds of National Guard troops to tackle protests against his administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Writing on Truth Social on Sunday evening as protesters clashed with federal officers, the US president said: “Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!.”
More than 100 suspected illegal immigrants have been detained in the city by federal officers after three days of demonstrations.
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How did the protests start?
Demonstrations broke out in southern California after federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) carried out raids across Los Angeles.
Two Home Depots and a clothing wholesaler were among the locations targeted, with workers suspected of being illegal immigrants detained.
Over the weekend, the DHS said ICE arrested 118 immigrants in LA, including 44 people on Friday.
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The first protests broke out on Friday at the sites of the raids in downtown Los Angeles, before spreading on Saturday to Paramount – a heavily Latino city south of LA – and neighbouring Compton.
Crowds tried to stop federal agents from driving away by throwing bins at vehicles and blocking the roads.
Since taking office for the second time in January, Mr Trump has signed several executive orders on the mass deportation of immigrants.
He’s pledged to deport record numbers of people who have entered the country illegally and lock down the US-Mexico border, setting ICE a goal of arresting at least 3,000 migrants a day.
As a result, raids have ramped up, with several being reported across the US this year.
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Why did Trump deploy the National Guard?
On Saturday, Mr Trump ordered the deployment of at least 2,000 National Guard troops to LA – invoking a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority” of the US government.
California Governor Gavin Newsom called Mr Trump’s order “purposefully inflammatory” and warned it would “only escalate tensions”, before adding the deployment was “the wrong mission and will erode public trust”.
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The National Guard was deployed specifically to protect federal buildings, including a downtown detention centre where protesters had gathered.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the last time the National Guard was deployed without a governor’s permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama.
Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday: “If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”
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What’s been happening since then?
Sunday’s protests were the most fierce yet. In the morning, troops carrying long guns and riot shields faced off with protesters who shouted “shame” and “go home”.
After some approached the National Guard members, another set of uniformed officers advanced on the group, shooting smoke-filled canisters into the street.
Minutes later, the Los Angeles Police Department fired rounds of crowd-control munitions to disperse the protesters.
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Much of the group then moved to block traffic on the 101 Freeway until state patrol officers cleared them by late afternoon.
Around 300 National Guard troops were deployed to three separate locations, according to US Northern Command.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said later that officers were “overwhelmed” by the remaining protesters, and claimed the group included regular agitators who show up at demonstrations to cause trouble.
Several dozen people have been arrested throughout the weekend, with one detained on Sunday for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police, and another for ramming a motorcycle into a line of officers.
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What has the reaction been?
Mr Newsom has since formally requested that the Trump Administration “rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles county and return them to my command”.
He said: “We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty – inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed.
“Rescind the order. Return control to California.”
In an interview with MSNBC, Mr Newsom added he planned to sue the administration over the deployment.
Mayor Bass urged Los Angeles residents: “Don’t engage in violence and chaos… Don’t give the administration what they want.”
However, Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and a political adviser to Mr Trump, described the city as “occupied territory” and accused the mayor of taking “sides with the criminal invaders and rioters over the federal law enforcement officers”.
In other social media posts, he called the demonstrations an “insurrection” and said: “We will take back America.”
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Vice president JD Vance said: “Insurrectionists carrying foreign flags are attacking immigration enforcement officers, while one half of America’s political leadership has decided that border enforcement is evil.”
He then called for the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act – a budget reconciliation bill that also boosts Border Patrol and ICE agents – to be passed by the Senate.
