Trump deploys National Guard amid immigration protests in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES: 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.