The Trump administration has announced the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops as federal agents braced for a second day of confrontations with demonstrators in Los Angeles, following recent immigration raids.
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In the Paramount area of southeast Los Angeles, security personnel faced approximately 100 protesters. Many demonstrators waved Mexican flags, while others concealed their mouths with respiratory masks, a poignant symbol of their discontent.
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, confirmed during an interview with Fox News that the National Guard’s presence was initiated in Los Angeles yesterday evening. In response, California Governor Gavin Newsom characterized this decision as “purposefully inflammatory.”
This clash illustrates the growing tension between the Democratic leadership of Los Angeles, which hosts a significant Hispanic and foreign-born population according to recent census data, and Trump’s Republican administration, known for its stringent stance on immigration as it navigates through its second term.
As the afternoon progressed, officials began detaining some protesters, though reports on specific arrests remain unverified, according to witness accounts from Reuters.
Disturbing video footage captured the scene: dozens of security personnel clad in green uniforms and gas masks lined a street covered in overturned shopping carts, with small canisters releasing clouds of gas. Protester Ron Gochez, 44, expressed the urgency of their cause, stating, “Now they know that they cannot go to anywhere in this country where our people are, and try to kidnap our workers, our people—they cannot do that without an organized and fierce resistance.”
The protests initially ignited on Friday evening after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carried out operations in the city, resulting in the arrest of at least 44 individuals facing immigration violations. Stephen Miller, a senior White House advisor known for his hardline immigration stance, described the demonstrations on X as “an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States.” He later escalated his rhetoric by labeling the protests a “violent insurrection.”
During a demonstration in downtown Los Angeles, the LAPD made several arrests the previous day.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) further contended that “1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer-funded property.” However, Reuters could not independently confirm these claims. Angelica Salas, the executive director of the immigrant rights organization Chirla, expressed deep concern over the lack of access lawyers had to those detained, calling it “very worrying.”
Trump has vowed to implement record deportations and secure the U.S.-Mexico border, setting an ambitious target for ICE to detain at least 3,000 migrants daily. However, this aggressive strategy has not only affected undocumented individuals but also those legally residing in the country, leading to numerous legal challenges.
Regarding the Paramount protests, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office noted, “It appeared that federal law enforcement officers were in the area, and that members of the public were gathering to protest.” Salas indicated that the protests were prompted by ICE’s apparent use of parking lots near a Home Depot in Paramount for their operations.
No comments on the ongoing protests or potential immigration sweeps were received from ICE, DHS, or the Los Angeles Police Department.
Television news coverage on Friday depicted unmarked vehicles, resembling military transport, and vans filled with uniformed federal agents traversing the streets of Los Angeles as part of the immigration enforcement initiative. Raids took place near Home Depot stores, where day laborers and street vendors were apprehended, as well as within a garment factory and warehouse, according to Chirla’s Salas.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, condemned the immigration raids, stating, “I am deeply angered by what has taken place. These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. We will not stand for this.”
Edited By Ali Musa
Axadle Times International – Monitoring.
