4+ days of unrest, over 56 people arrested. Protests in the land of Los Angeles have taken a serious turn from early June 2025. On Saturday, the Trump administration deployed 2,000 National Guards to the city. Dozens of people have been arrested after days of violent protests as a response to the immigration raids conducted by the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Initial outrage sparked among the people when ICE conducted raids in Los Angeles Fashion District, a known clothing wholesaler and Home Depot in the Westlake area on June 6, 2025 at 9:15 am PST. Recently, raids were conducted in Westlake district and Paramount which is the south of Los Angeles.
Later, officials cleared that reports of raids at a Home Depot shop in Paramount were false. The Paramount region holds itself as a crucial stakeholder for a population of 82.3% Hispanics and/or Latinos. ICE later officially announced the arrest of 44 unwarranted immigrants on Friday as part of a single operation. 7
7 more unauthorized immigrants were arrested on the same day. The raids and the presence of federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sparked furthermore outrage. Protests spread to areas like Paramount and Compton on Saturday morning. Protesters kicked and threw objects at vehicles of the law enforcement. Subsequently, officers responded by deploying tear gas at the agitated crowd.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department ordered the protesters to retreat and disperse over consequences of arrest and use of force. Clashes continued at Compton during late hours of June 7, 2025 where conflicts involved officers shooting flash-bang grenades and the protesters threw glass bottles and fireworks at the officers.
Trump Intervenes
Subsequently, Donald Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard members to the impacted areas. President Trump signed a memorandum over the weekend which initiated the deployment of National Guards to LA. Citing Title 10 of the Federal Code, he explained that protection of federal immigration officials and other law arrangements is a crucial reason behind this move.
The federal code, 10 U.S.C 12406 says, “the president may call into federal service members and units of National Guard on any State in such numbers as he considers necessary to repel the invasion, suppress the rebellion or execute those laws.”
This act received a series of political rows from the California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass. Donald Trump remarked that the protests were a form of rebellion against the authority of the United States. The first troops entered the city on Sunday morning and positioned themselves outside the detention center where illegal immigrants are held.
On June 8, the protests reached a peak when there was an attempted Molotov cocktail attack on police and an incident of motorcycle ramming. While other parts of LA remain unchanged by the current situation, authorities have reported 56 arrests over the weekend.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had taken to X and threatened that continued protests will result in the mobilisation of the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton.
Why have people been arrested?
ICE arrested 2,200 people on June 4, 2025. This move was conducted as ICE remains under pressure by the Trump administration to show an increase in the figures. ICE was expected to scale up to 3,000 arrests a day. This figure is drastically more than the former arrests which ICE was conducting during the first 100 days of the Trump government’s operation. The Department of Homeland Security has cleared the air around the nature of arrests. According to officials, people detained in the recent LA raids were convicted of sex crimes, burglary, drug related charges and various other offences. Hundreds of people arrested by ICE were enrolled in a program called Alternative to Detention (ATD). ICE’s ATD program provides case management services for non-detained aliens. This program allows for the release and monitoring of non-detained aliens who are not deemed an immediate threat.
What is happening now?
At the onset of Monday, more protests are expected to take place, especially a rally led by civil rights and labor leaders for the release of David Huerta. David Huerta, who is the president of SEIU and SEIU-USWW, was arrested over allegations of interfering. Furtheron, Gavin Newsom declared that he will be suing the Trump administration over the deployment of National Guards.
Recently, Mayor Karen Bass broke silence about the current situation in LA in a press conference. She mentioned, “As of now we have not received word about the raids. The city is not notified when ICE goes to a workplace. What we rely on is the reporting from the community, especially the Immigrant Rights Organisation that have formed the rapid response network.”
Mayor Karen Bass took into account that people engaging in violence and vandalism may have other agendas rather than supporting the immigrants.
On June 10, 2025 Trump announced his decision to deploy 700 Marine Corps to control Los Angeles protests. Also, the overall number of National Guards currently deployed will be doubled, making it 4,000 National Guards in total.
The recent raids have been part of Trump’s aim to conduct the ‘biggest deportation project’ in US history. Los Angeles holds an overall population of 46.9% hispanics and/or latino and this demoraph figure has made LA a major focus of Trump’s deportation project.