Everything you need to know about the immigration protests in Los Angeles

It was a weekend of mayhem in Los Angeles.

In the midst of several large-scale raids on immigrant communities, thousands of people took to the streets over the weekend to challenge the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency for detaining people said to be undocumented.

The protests, which began on Friday, have been met with violent force, as the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) deployed tear gas, pepper balls, and rubber bullets to deter protests and even intimidate journalists.

By Sunday, with protests expanding and tensions escalating, US President Donald Trump mobilised the National Guard without seeking California Governor Gavin Newsom’s authorisation, to try and put an end to the protests.

Trump made the deportation of undocumented persons in the US a central plank of his re-election campaign last year and has implemented policies of mass deportation with little regard for due process. Just days before protests erupted in Los Angeles, Trump implemented a new travel ban.

California's state attorney general announced on Monday that it is suing the Trump administration.

"Commandeering a state's National Guard without consulting the Governor of that state is illegal and immoral," Newsom said on Sunday, when he declared on X that he intended to take the president to court. 

Middle East Eye looks at Trump’s targeting of undocumented people in the US, the protests unfolding in southern California, and the likelihood of the protests spreading to other parts of the country. 

How did the protests start?

Protests began on Friday as ICE and FBI agents attempted to arrest migrant workers in Los Angeles’ Fashion District. Protesters congregated near the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center, where people arrested by ICE were being held.

Protesters spray-painted anti-ICE slogans, and federal agents fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowd. 

As evening fell, the LAPD began advancing on the crowd, firing "less-lethal" ammunition and threatening arrests.

On Saturday, an ICE raid on a Home Depot store in Paramount sparked further demonstrations. Protestors used shopping carts and cinderblocks to create makeshift barricades, and some threw rocks at ICE vehicles.

On Saturday evening local time, protests continued in Compton, south of Los Angeles.

These were met with a similar police response. That night, Trump also ordered 2,000 National Guardsmen to be sent to Los Angeles to quell the protests.

Despite the deployment, protests continued on Sunday.

Demonstrators shut down part of the 101 Freeway while police bombarded protestors with less-lethal ammunition, sometimes at near point-blank range, outside of the detention centre. 

Also, on Sunday evening, the city of Glendale announced that it had terminated an agreement with ICE to hold detainees. 

During the protests, ICE detainees in a detention centre were seen flashing lights and hitting the walls, in what some protesters took as a signal to demonstrate against ICE on the outside.

ICE has a long history of human rights abuses stretching back to its founding in 2003. Under both Democratic and Republican administrations, ICE facilities have been overcrowded and rife with staff misconduct. 

In some places, detainees are said to be given only one cup of water per day.

The protests come after months of rising tensions in immigrant communities, as ICE operations began to escalate.

In early February, thousands of high school students in Los Angeles walked out of their classes to protest ICE raids.

Last week, the Trump administration set a quota for ICE to arrest 3,000 people per day. On Tuesday, ICE arrested 2,200 people, the most arrests in a single day by the agency. 

The agency is also said to have used duplicitous tactics to arrest undocumented migrants. 

On 3 June, for example, ICE sent out mass texts urging people to arrive early to their scheduled immigration appointments, only to arrest them on site. Two days later, ICE arrested a woman while her lawyer was in the bathroom.  
 

How has the city responded?

Los Angeles is a sanctuary city, which generally means refusing to cooperate with the federal government’s immigration laws, including working with ICE agents.

Still, the LAPD responded to the protests with force. 

Throughout the weekend, the LAPD attempted to disperse protestors by continuously firing less lethal ammunition into crowds of protestors. LAPD also beat protestors with batons and arrested at least 56 people. The city’s police chief, Jim McDonnell, accused outside agitators of inciting violence.

However, several events caught on live television showcase incidents of police brutality that undermine police testimony. In the first incident, LAPD officers beat a protester as he lay on the floor, and appeared to stomp over him with a horse.

In another, a demonstrator was knocked over by a van as he tried to hold it back from moving forward.

Police were also caught on camera refusing to call an ambulance for a woman they had shot in the head with a rubber bullet.

Several journalists have also been targeted by the LAPD in the past several days, with some reporting injuries from rubber bullets and tear gas.

On Sunday, a clip went viral of an LAPD officer shooting an Australian journalist in the leg with a rubber bullet.

Protesters have responded by slashing the tires, spray painting and breaking the windows of police vehicles. In one instance, protesters on an overpass threw Lime scooters at police vehicles parked below.

Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass condemned the deployment of the National Guard. However, Bass thanked the LAPD and threatened consequences for those involved in “violence, destruction and vandalism”.

Bass did not mention the LAPD's violence.

What is the significance of the National Guard being deployed?

Typically, a state’s National Guard is only deployed after a request from the state’s governor.

On Sunday, Trump deployed the National Guard without the governor’s authorisation for the first time since 1965. 

Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth on Saturday also threatened to deploy 500 Marines to Los Angeles. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom requested that Trump rescind the deployment of the National Guard and accused Trump of trying to “manufacture a crisis”.

Trump’s willingness to send in the National Guard without authorisation is reminiscent of his actions during the George Floyd protests of 2020, when masked federal agents indiscriminately detained protestors off the streets.

However, the LAPD, not the National Guard, was responsible for most of the violence this weekend.

What might happen next?

In Los Angeles, protests are continuing. ICE raids on a Home Depot on Monday are already being met with resistance.

The intensity of the opposition to ICE's presence could make federal authorities reconsider more incursions in Los Angeles.

Protests have also spread to New York and San Francisco. 

In San Francisco, at least 150 protestors were arrested on Sunday evening after police declared an anti-ICE protest unlawful. Protestors spray-painted anti-ICE messages on police vehicles and damaged the windows of a Chase Bank.

Earlier, on Saturday, protesters demonstrated against the transfer of undocumented immigrants detained by ICE in New York City. 

Over 20 people were arrested, with one protester being taken away in an ambulance.

There have been several indications that more protests could expand in New York this week.