logo
Los Angeles police order immigration protesters downtown to go home

Los Angeles police order immigration protesters downtown to go home

RNZ Newsa day ago

By
Jane Ross
, Reuters
Protesters with a Mexican flag face off with Sheriff deputies during a protest following federal immigration operations in Los Angeles, California, on 8 June, 2025.
Photo:
RINGO CHIU / AFP
Los Angeles braced for another day of unrest on Monday (local time) over President Donald Trump's immigration policies, after police declared the city's downtown an unlawful assembly area and ordered protesters to go home.
California officials pushed back at the deployment of National Guard troops by the White House, saying they were unnecessary and had only inflamed the situation. Governor Gavin Newsom vowed to sue the federal government.
"This is exactly what Donald Trump wanted. He flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard," Newsom posted on X on Monday. "We're suing him."
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed the Trump administration for inciting tension by sending in the Guard. She also condemned protesters after some burned cars and hurled bottles at police.
"I don't want people to fall into the chaos that I believe is being created by the administration completely unnecessarily," Bass told a press conference on Sunday.
The unrest in Los Angeles has become a flashpoint in Trump's signature effort to clamp down on illegal immigration.
The Republican president has pledged to deport record numbers of people who are in the country illegally and to lock down the US-Mexico border, setting the ICE border enforcement agency a daily goal of arresting at least 3000 migrants.
Los Angeles police said some protesters had thrown concrete projectiles, bottles and other items at police. Police declared several rallies to be unlawful assemblies and later extended that to include the whole downtown area.
Several self-driving cars from Alphabet's Waymo were set ablaze on a downtown street on Sunday evening.
Police on horseback tried to control the crowds. Some officers used flash-bang grenades and tear gas, CNN reported.
Demonstrators shouted "Shame on you!" at police and some appeared to throw objects, video images showed. One group blocked the 101 Freeway, a downtown thoroughfare.
City Police Chief Jim McDonnell told a media briefing on Sunday evening that people had a right to protest peacefully but the violence he had seen by some was "disgusting" and the protests were getting out of control.
Police said they had arrested 10 people on Sunday and 29 the previous night, adding arrests were continuing.
Vanessa Cardenas, head of the immigration advocacy group America's Voice, accused the Trump administration of "trumping up an excuse to abuse power, and deliberately stoke and force confrontations around immigration."
In response to California's threat to sue the government, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X that "Newsom did nothing as violent riots erupted in Los Angeles for days."
Asked if the National Guard was needed, Police Chief McDonnell said police would not "go to that right away," but added, "Looking at the violence tonight, I think we've got to make a reassessment."
In a social media post, Trump called on McDonnell to do so.
"He should, right now!!!" Trump added. "Don't let these thugs get away with this. Make America great again!!!"
The White House disputed Newsom's characterisation of Trump inflaming the situation, saying in a statement, "Everyone saw the chaos, violence and lawlessness."
Earlier on Sunday, about a dozen National Guard members, along with Department of Homeland Security personnel, pushed back a group of demonstrators outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles, video showed.
The US Northern Command said 300 members of the California National Guard had been deployed to three spots in the Los Angeles area.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS program "Face the Nation" that the National Guard would provide safety around buildings to people engaged in peaceful protest and to law enforcement.
The Trump administration's immigration enforcement measures have also included residents who are in the country legally, some with permanent residence, spurring legal challenges.
In a social media post on Sunday, Trump called the demonstrators "violent, insurrectionist mobs" and said he was directing his cabinet officers "to take all such action necessary" to stop what he called riots.
Despite Trump's language, he has not invoked the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that empowers a president to deploy the US military to suppress events such as civil disorder.
Asked on Sunday whether he was considering doing so, he said, "It depends on whether or not there's an insurrection."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Saturday the Pentagon is prepared to mobilise active-duty troops "if violence continues" in Los Angeles, saying Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were on high alert.
- Reuters

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

US court issues order limiting Trump's troop deployment in LA
US court issues order limiting Trump's troop deployment in LA

RNZ News

timean hour ago

  • RNZ News

US court issues order limiting Trump's troop deployment in LA

Photo: ETIENNE LAURENT Law enforcement officers face off with demonstrators during clashes in front of the federal building during a protest following federal immigration operations, in Los Angeles, California on June 8, 2025. A US federal court on Tuesday (US time) has issued a temporary restraining order limiting the deployment of troops in Los Angeles after President Donald Trump sent Marines and National Guard to the city. The government is "temporarily enjoined from ordering or deploying the Title 10 Force to enforce or aid federal agents in enforcing federal law or to take any action beyond (protecting) federal buildings," said the order, signed by District Judge Charles Breyer. More to come... -AFP

Harvard's bonfire could be NZ's foreign student exchange
Harvard's bonfire could be NZ's foreign student exchange

RNZ News

time3 hours ago

  • RNZ News

Harvard's bonfire could be NZ's foreign student exchange

Harvard University's graduation day takes place amid escalating tensions between the university and the Trump administration. Photo: Getty via AFP One of the world's best universities, a magnet for the globe's brightest brains, is under attack by the Trump administration. And while Harvard is fighting various funding restrictions and bans on foreign student visas, harsher policies on America's borders are creating fear from returning students that they could be arrested by immigration officers and jailed or deported. International students are big money-makers for universities worldwide - in New Zealand they pay four times the amount in fees as domestic students. "We could be doing well while doing good," says the chief economist at the policy think-tank The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Eric Crampton. "It's amazing that America's throwing all this away. "We aren't the destination market for the best students in the world. But if the place that is the destination for the best students in the world suddenly says 'we don't want them any more' - my God we'd better be ready for that," he tells The Detail . Crampton is Canadian, but spent time in the US on a student visa so knows what it's like to study there. He's also taught at Canterbury University and has experience with exchange students. He says the American administration has now basically put every student visa under threat, with erratic threats coming from the President, whether over funding or threats to Chinese students on the basis that "they're all spies or something". Trump's move to bar international students from Harvard by blocking their visas has itself now been blocked by a court order , but the situation remains uncertain. At the same time foreign students are getting nervous about leaving the country and trying to get back in, with reports about people randomly getting arrested at the border. The hit to the US economy is expected to cost billions in revenue, and has been described as an "anti-intellectual spree". "When you live in America on something like a student visa, every interaction with the state you're reminded that you're less than an American. Even in 2002 it was very clear that you are there by their sufferance. "It would be awful being there now on a student visa because just imagine it ... you'd be paying $US50,000 per year in international tuition fees, maybe you've already paid for two years of study and you're coming towards the end of it ... and you've got two more years ahead of you ... if they cancel your visa you've wasted $100,000 and two years. "If you're at a place like Harvard, people wouldn't hold it against you, you could continue your studies elsewhere. People would say 'well, he was admitted to Harvard, he must be really good', but if you're at a mid-tier US university - which is still better than anything New Zealand has - you'll have sunk two years' worth of study and $100,000 worth of cost, and you won't be able to finish your degree. "It feels like the kind of spot where New Zealand could help. We've always been able to accommodate students on international exchange. We could make it really easy for students to come in that way." Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan says New Zealand is nearly back up to pre-Covid numbers of foreign students, with our eight universities having about 20 thousand full time equivalent students between them. "International students help, but they're just one of a number of different mechanisms that universities are looking to for making payroll and keeping lights on," he says. "We don't want to grow too far ... we want international education to be a genuinely quality and value proposition for both domestic students - giving them the ability to rub shoulders with people from different cultures - but also for the international students, to give them a genuine international experience. "But if any student did want to, or was forced to, discontinue their studies in the US, there are places like New Zealand that I think would welcome them and would make it as easy as possible for them to get here." Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .

America's foreign student fiasco
America's foreign student fiasco

Newsroom

time4 hours ago

  • Newsroom

America's foreign student fiasco

One of the world's best universities, a magnet for the globe's brightest brains, is under attack by the Trump administration. And while Harvard is fighting various funding restrictions and bans on foreign student visas, harsher policies on America's borders are creating fear from returning students that they could be arrested by immigration officers and jailed or deported. International students are big money-makers for universities worldwide – in New Zealand they pay four times the amount in fees as domestic students. 'We could be doing well while doing good,' says the chief economist at the policy think-tank The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Eric Crampton. 'It's amazing that America's throwing all this away. 'We aren't the destination market for the best students in the world. But if the place that is the destination for the best students in the world suddenly says 'We don't want them any more' – my God we'd better be ready for that,' he tells The Detail. Crampton is Canadian, but spent time in the US on a student visa so knows what it's like to study there. He's also taught at Canterbury University and has experience with exchange students. He says the American administration has now basically put every student visa under threat, with erratic threats coming from the President, whether over funding or threats to Chinese students on the basis that 'they're all spies or something'. Trump's move to bar international students from Harvard by blocking their visas has itself now been blocked by a court order, but the situation remains uncertain. At the same time foreign students are getting nervous about leaving the country and trying to get back in, with reports about people getting arrested randomly at the border. The hit to the US economy is expected to cost billions in revenue, and has been described as an 'anti-intellectual spree'. 'When you live in America on something like a student visa, every interaction with the state you're reminded that you're less than an American. Even in 2002 it was very clear that you are there by their sufferance. 'It would be awful being there now on a student visa because just imagine it … you'd be paying $US50,000 per year in international tuition fees, maybe you've already paid for two years of study and you're coming towards the end of it … and you've got two more years ahead of you … if they cancel your visa you've wasted $100,000 and two years. 'If you're at a place like Harvard, people wouldn't hold it against you, you could continue your studies elsewhere. People would say 'Well, he was admitted to Harvard, he must be really good', but if you're at a mid-tier US university – which is still better than anything New Zealand has – you'll have sunk two years' worth of study and $100,000 worth of cost, and you won't be able to finish your degree. 'It feels like the kind of spot where New Zealand could help. We've always been able to accommodate students on international exchange. We could make it really easy for students to come in that way.' Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan says New Zealand is nearly back up to pre-Covid numbers of foreign students, with our eight universities having about 20,000 full-time equivalent students between them. 'International students help, but they're just one of a number of different mechanisms that universities are looking to for making payroll and keeping lights on,' he says. 'We don't want to grow too far … we want international education to be a genuinely quality and value proposition for both domestic students – giving them the ability to rub shoulders with people from different cultures – but also for the international students, to give them a genuine international experience. 'But if any student did want to, or was forced to, discontinue their studies in the US, there are places like New Zealand that I think would welcome them and would make it as easy as possible for them to get here.' Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here. You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store