Los Angeles: Where Immigration Protests and Clashes Happened
Protests against immigration enforcement actions turned violent over the weekend in the Los Angeles area when protestors and law enforcement were involved in clashes that led to destruction of property, arrests of protestors and the deployment of the National Guard. The Trump administration has said that it had significantly upped arrests of undocumented immigrants by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, totaling 100,000 in the approximately 20 weeks that it has been in power - almost as many as in the whole of fiscal year 2024.
On Friday, a smaller protest was dispersed in the Fashion District of Los Angeles after ICE raided an apparel manufacturer there. This led to protesters gathering in the afternoon at the Federal Building and the Metropolitan Detention Center in the nearby downtown of the city. Here, police fired tear gas. The New York Times reported that more than 100 protestors were arrested Friday, including David Huerta, the president of Service Employees International Union California, which further galvanized the movement against ICE arrests.
On Saturday, clashes happened between protestors and law enforcement in Paramount, a city south of Los Angeles, and spilled over into neighboring Compton. There were rumors of an immigration raid at a Home Depot that day. CBS reported that while arrests were made in the business' parking lot Friday and agents were getting ready near the Paramount location Saturday, no actual raid took place. Clashes intensified in the afternoon and continued at the downtown Los Angeles location. At 6 p.m., President Donald Trump ordered to deploy the National Guard.
Sunday morning, troops, Department of Homeland Security and ICE officers were present at the Metropolitan Detention Center complex and attempted to clear away protestors, which led to intensified clashes in the area, where protestors briefly blocked a highway and self-driving taxis by the company Waymo were set on fire. Monday, clashes at the location continued as law enforcement used tear gas and rubber bullets to drive protestors away from the location, including into nearby Little Tokyo. The day also saw mainly peaceful protests against immigration raids in more than 20 other U.S. cities.