A Song of ICE and Fire: How Donald Trump's immigration raids sparked the LA riots

Time of India

2 hours ago

A demonstrator waves an American and Mexican flag during a protest in Compton, Calif., Saturday, June 7, 2025, after federal immigration authorities conducted operations. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Protesters clashed with federal immigration agents in Los Angeles County for a second consecutive day on Saturday, after raids at a Home Depot and a nearby meatpacking plant sparked renewed unrest in the Latino-majority suburb of Paramount.
The clashes came just 24 hours after ICE detained over 121 people across the city, prompting protests outside a federal processing centre where agents used flash-bang grenades and what advocates said was tear gas. The Trump administration accused city officials of failing to support enforcement efforts, with White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller calling the protests an 'insurrection.' Meanwhile, California leaders, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom, condemned the federal crackdown as provocative and politically motivated, even as the National Guard prepared for deployment under a rarely used rebellion clause.
ICE, Rubber Bullets, and a Home Depot Cart Ablaze
Over 121 immigrants were detained in a single day. Protesters hurled glass bottles and fireworks. Law enforcement responded with pepper balls and flash-bangs. At one point, a Home Depot shopping cart was set on fire and melted into a barricade.
In Paramount, one of the epicentres of resistance, federal officers used rubber bullets to disperse a growing crowd—many of whom were chanting in Spanish and waving phones in one hand and makeshift placards in the other.
Down the street, motorbikes revved between police and protesters like a surreal video game gone wrong. Music blasted, tear gas lingered, and the tension was palpable.
Newsom vs. Trump: A Constitutional Showdown
Governor Gavin Newsom called the deployment 'a spectacle,' arguing that it was not about maintaining order but staging political theatre. 'There is no shortage of law enforcement,' he said. 'There is a shortage of federal restraint.' The state had not requested troops.
It didn't want them. And yet, by nightfall, they were en route.
Trump's memo referred to the protests as a 'form of rebellion.' By invoking the same clause Lyndon B. Johnson once used in 1965 to protect civil rights protesters in Alabama, Trump flipped the script: this time, troops weren't defending dissent—they were suppressing it.
A Warning Shot—or a Political War?
According to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the country faced an 'insurrection.'
He posted online, 'Deport the invaders, or surrender to insurrection. These are the choices.' Meanwhile, Trump's border czar Thomas Homan doubled down, promising the ICE raids would not stop. 'They're not going to shut us down,' he said.
If that sounds familiar, it should. The Trump administration attempted similar tactics during the George Floyd protests of 2020, but ultimately held back on federalizing National Guard forces.
This time, there was no hesitation.
Marines on Alert, a City on Edge
In a move not seen since the Rodney King riots in 1992, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that active-duty Marines at Camp Pendleton were on high alert—ready to be deployed into a major US city. The last time this happened without a governor's request was nearly 60 years ago.
The legal justification? 'To protect ICE and federal property.' The political context? Midwestern rallies.
Red-state donor pressure. And a GOP base increasingly radicalised by apocalyptic narratives about immigration.
Why the Workplaces?
Los Angeles County Sheriffs stand during a protest in Compton, Calif., Saturday, June 7, 2025, after federal immigration authorities conducted operations. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Trump's ICE playbook has evolved. Where once the administration focused on 'criminal aliens,' it now targets workforces wholesale—garment factories, construction sites, fast-food chains. In just one week, over 2,000 immigrants were arrested per day, many in dawn raids backed by FBI logistics and IRS intel.
The strategy is simple: scale. You can goose arrest numbers faster by raiding a warehouse than by sending agents after individual overstayers. Plus, it sends a chilling message to undocumented workers: no place is safe—not even a laundromat.
Collateral Damage: An Economic Shock
The raids don't just affect undocumented migrants. They hit American businesses, too. In industries like construction and landscaping, undocumented workers make up up to 20% of the labour force.
One Cleveland builder, Gus Hoyas, put it bluntly: 'You get rid of these folks, and it's going to kill us.'
Even hospitality is feeling the pinch. Greg Casten, who runs several D.C. restaurants, warned that losing even 10% of his staff would cripple operations. He's received annual letters from the IRS about mismatched Social Security numbers. But in today's climate, those letters now feel like warning shots.
The Legal Abyss: Employers Damned Either Way
Employers walk a tightrope.
If they suspect a worker is undocumented and act, they risk discrimination suits. If they don't, they could be next on the ICE radar. It's a paradox by design—one that ensures maximum fear with minimal due process.
As one immigration lawyer put it: 'You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.'
The Politics of Spectacle
In the end, this isn't just about law enforcement—it's about optics. Trump knows that workplace raids filmed on mobile phones, protests with burning carts, and National Guard convoys on CNN aren't liabilities.
They're campaign material.
It's a spectacle that energises the base, demoralises the opposition, and distracts from more complex questions—like why America's immigration system has remained broken through Reagan, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden, and two rounds of Trump.
The End of Sanctuary?
What's happening in Los Angeles isn't just about California. It's a test case for the limits of federal authority over states—and the future of sanctuary jurisdictions.
Trump's memo, laced with legalese about rebellion and insurrection, effectively criminalises protest when it clashes with immigration enforcement.
That should alarm anyone who remembers what the First Amendment stands for. Or what 'checks and balances' used to mean.
As the dust settles and the tear gas fades, one question lingers: Is this the beginning of a new federal playbook—or the end of state sovereignty?
Either way, America just entered a dangerous new chapter. And Los Angeles is its ground zero.
With inputs from agencies