Protesters clash with US authorities over California crackdown on immigration
US Border Patrol officers fire tear gas in an attempt to disperse angry crowds outside an industrial park in the city of Paramount.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Trump deploys National Guard over LA immigration protests
US President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 troops on Saturday to handle escalating protests against immigration enforcement raids in the Los Angeles area, a move the state's governor termed "purposefully inflammatory." Federal agents clashed with angry crowds in a Los Angeles suburb as protests stretched into a second night Saturday, shooting flash-bang grenades and shutting part of a freeway amid raids on undocumented migrants, reports said. The standoff took place in Paramount, where demonstrators had gathered near a Home Depot that was being used as a staging area by federal immigration officials, the Fox 11 news outlet reported. They were met by federal agents in gas masks, who lobbed flash-bang grenades and tear gas at the crowd, according to news reports and social media posts. Since taking office in January, Republican Trump has delivered on a promise to crack down hard on the entry and presence of undocumented migrants -- who he has likened to "monsters" and "animals." Late Saturday, Trump signed a memo deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen "to address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "The Trump Administration has a zero tolerance policy for criminal behavior and violence, especially when that violence is aimed at law enforcement officers trying to do their jobs." About an hour before the White House confirmed the deployment, California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said he opposed the move. "That move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions," he said on social media platform X. "We are in close coordination with the city and county, and there is currently no unmet need." The protests came a day after masked and armed immigration agents carried out high-profile workplace raids in separate parts of Los Angeles, attracting angry crowds and setting off hours-long standoffs. LA Mayor Karen Bass acknowledged that some city residents were "feeling fear" following the federal immigration enforcement actions. "Everyone has the right to peacefully protest, but let me be clear: violence and destruction are unacceptable, and those responsible will be held accountable," she said on X. - Roadblocks and chants - FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said multiple arrests had been made following Friday's clashes. "You bring chaos, and we'll bring handcuffs. Law and order will prevail," he said on X. On Saturday, amid chants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to get out, some protestors waved Mexican flags while others set a US flag on fire, the Los Angeles Times reported. Cement blocks and overturned shopping carts served as crude roadblocks. A crowd swarmed a US Marshals Service bus exiting a nearby freeway, with authorities later closing on and off ramps to keep protesters from taking over the highway and to stop new people from flowing in. The White House has taken a hard line against the protests, with deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller calling them "an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States." Los Angeles, the second-most populous city in the United States, is one of the most diverse metropolises in the country. The suburb of Paramount, home to about 50,000 people, is 82 percent Hispanic or Latino, according to US Census data. aha/acb
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
White House sends National Guard to protests against LA immigration raid
Protests against immigration raids across Los Angeles have spilled to a second day in what the White House has labelled an anti-US "insurrection". The rallies first kicked off in the Paramount area on Friday, local time, after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 44 people from locations across the city on alleged immigration violations. ICE agents executed search warrants at three locations, including a clothing warehouse in LA's fashion district where a tense scene unfolded as a crowd tried to block agents from driving away. The Associated Press was told people were also detained outside Home Depot stores and a doughnut shop. By Friday evening, protesters had gathered outside a federal detention centre where lawyers said the arrested people had been taken, chanting "set them free, let them stay". Other protesters held signs that said "ICE out of LA!" and led chants and shouted from megaphones. Some scrawled graffiti on the building facade. The demonstration outside the centre prompted a police response that included tear gas, flash-bangs and the arrest of a union leader. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that "1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer-funded property". The claims were not independently verified. Confrontations continued into Saturday, with Reuters video showing dozens of green-uniformed security personnel with gas masks lined up on a road strewn with overturned shopping carts as small canisters exploded into gas clouds. The officers, who appeared to be from Border Patrol, not local LA police, stood guard outside an industrial park in Paramount and deployed tear gas to disperse crowds. "ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are," a woman announced through a megaphone. "You are not welcome here." One hand-held sign said, "No Human Being is Illegal." The Trump administration indicated on Saturday evening that it would deploy the National Guard, a military reserve force activated by a state governor as part of an emergency response. "We're already mobilising. We're gonna bring National Guard in tonight and we're gonna continue doing our job. This is about enforcing the law," Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan told Fox News. However, California Governor Gavin Newsom appeared to have been against the call, saying on X that the federal government was "taking over" the California National Guard. "That move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions … there is currently no unmet need," he said. "This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust." White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller wrote on X that the demonstrations constituted an "insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States". ICE representatives did not immediately respond to AP inquiries about weekend enforcement activities. The LA Police Department did not take part in the immigration enforcement. It was deployed to quell civil unrest after crowds protesting the deportation raids spray-painted anti-ICE slogans on the walls of a federal court building and gathered outside a nearby jail where some of the detainees were reportedly being held. Arrests by immigration authorities in LA come as the Trump administration pushes to fulfil promises to carry out mass deportations across the country. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the ICE raids were meant to "sow terror" in the nation's second-largest city. Speaking to NBC4 later, she threw her support behind the LA community. "We are going to fight for all Angelenos, regardless of when they got here, whether they have papers or not," Ms Bass said. "We are a city of immigrants, and this impacts hundreds of thousands of Angelenos." California is home to the United States' largest immigrant population, having 10.6 million foreign-born residents. That accounts for 22 per cent of the total foreign-born population across the country. According to the Pew Research Center, 1.8 million immigrants in California, or about 17 per cent of the total number, were undocumented in 2022 and 83 per cent either held US citizenship or another legal residency status. That data, based off information from the US Census Bureau, also found that from 2019 to 2022, California was the only one of seven US states whose unauthorised immigrant population did not increase. Since Mr Trump's return to office, ICE agents have been particularly active in California, Illinois, and New York, all historically blue states, according to analysis published by Axios last week. Those are also states whose respective legislations prohibit local law enforcement authorities from assisting in federal immigration arrests. In a statement on Saturday, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons chided the LA mayor for the city's response to the protests. "Mayor Bass took the side of chaos and lawlessness over law enforcement," he said. "Make no mistake, ICE will continue to enforce our nation's immigration laws and arrest criminal illegal aliens." ABC/wires
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
Protesters clash with US authorities over California crackdown on immigration
US Border Patrol officers fire tear gas in an attempt to disperse angry crowds outside an industrial park in the city of Paramount.
