Trump to deploy National Guard as Los Angeles immigration protests ramp up after citywide ICE operations

Large-scale protests Saturday across Los Angeles in response to dozens of arrests Friday in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation prompted the Trump administration to announce it was deploying the National Guard. 

“If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!” the president posted to his Truth Social platform Saturday evening. 

In a statement to CBS News Saturday night, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president “has signed a Presidential Memorandum deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen to address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester.”

The message came after Trump administration border czar Tom Homan said in an interview on Fox News earlier Saturday that “We’re going to bring National Guard in tonight. We’re going to continue doing our job. We’re going to push back on these people, and we’re going to enforce the law.”

A Defense Department official told CBS News that the vast majority of the 2,000 soldiers are from the California National Guard under the president’s Title 10 authority. Leavitt also told CBS News that Mr. Trump would be using Title 10 authority for the deployment. 

In his own post to X in response to reports the National Guard may be deployed, California Gov. Newsom wrote that the “federal government is moving to take over the California National Guard and deploy 2,000 soldiers. That move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions. LA authorities are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment’s notice. We are in close coordination with the city and county, and there is currently no unmet need. The Guard has been admirably serving LA throughout recovery. This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust.”

Newsom also wrote that additional California Highway Patrol units were being deployed L.A. area highways to “keep the peace.” 

“The federal government is sowing chaos so they can have an excuse to escalate,” Newsom said. “That is not the way any civilized country behaves.”

Whether the president can call in the National Guard without Newsom’s approval is unclear. 

In a social media post Saturday night, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said that city officials had “been in direct contact with officials in Washington, D.C., and are working closely with law enforcement to find the best path forward.”

Protesters and authorities clash in Paramount

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed on Saturday that another protest erupted in the city of Paramount after it appeared that federal law enforcement officers were conducting another operation.

The department said in a statement that a large crowd was blocking traffic in the 6400 block of Paramount Boulevard at around 12:42 p.m. 

During a press conference Saturday afternoon, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said that there were as many as 400 people gathered for the protests, which led the department to declare unlawful assembly as they sought to have everyone involved “disperse peacefully without any violence.”

He said that non-lethal munitions were fired by federal agents prior to deputies’ arrival. 

California Highway Patrol confirmed to CBS News Los Angeles that officers had been preparing for protesters to attempt to march onto the 710 Freeway. As of 6 p.m., protesters hadn’t yet obstructed any freeway lanes.

The L.A. County Fire Department said that one person was transported to a local hospital from the scene around 12:45 p.m. The extent of their injuries aren’t yet clear.

Images captured by CBS News Los Angeles at the scene showed several dozen protesters gathering on the streets of Paramount. Some attempted to get in the way of a U.S. Marshals Service bus, while others threw rocks and other objects at law enforcement vehicles.

Tricia McLaughlin, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary, issued a statement on Saturday regarding the events in Paramount. 

“Despite false reports, there was no ICE ‘raid’ at a Home Depot in LA today. DHS has a nearby office in Paramount that they are using as a staging area and rioters found it. This violence against ICE must stop,” her statement said.

Later on Saturday, protests continued on the border of Paramount and the city of Compton, where hundreds of demonstrators gathered around a car that was lit on fire in the middle of an intersection near Dale’s Donuts. Some vehicles performed burnouts while others rode dirt bikes around the blaze while waving flags. 

Authorities looked on from a distance, some of whom were seen wearing riot gear. 

A pair of fire trucks arrived about 10 minutes after the car first caught fire, with crews quickly extinguishing the flames. Deputies formed a perimeter around the intersection as the firefighting effort continued.

Demonstrations start after Friday’s operations

Saturday’s demonstration comes just hours after multiple protests broke out in downtown Los Angeles on Friday evening, after several immigration operations were conducted across the city.

CBS News Los Angeles learned that ICE conducted raids in the Westlake District, downtown L.A. and South L.A. on Friday. According to an ICE spokesperson, as many as 118 arrests have been made in L.A. this week, which includes 44 in those operations on Friday.

“ICE officers and agents alongside partner law enforcement agencies, executed four federal search warrants at three locations in central Los Angeles,” the spokesperson, Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe said. “Approximately 44 people were administratively arrested and one arrest for obstruction. The investigation remains ongoing, updates will follow as appropriate.”

She confirmed that at least one of the warrants executed was related to the “harboring of people illegally in the country.”

Images from SKYCal footage taken Friday showed one of the apparent raids appearing to take place outside of a Home Depot store in the Westlake District. 

The multiple protests eventually centered around the Federal Building in downtown L.A. after word spread among demonstrators that detainees were allegedly being held in that building in the evening. 

Some demonstrators were seen spraying graffiti on the side of the building, while others threw what police called pieces of concrete in their direction. This led to an unlawful assembly declaration and dispersal order from LAPD officers. They cleared the area as dozens of officers wearing riot gear formed a skirmish line to push the crowd back. 

Later in the evening, another group converged outside of a parking lot in Chinatown, where federal agents could be seen staging, prompting concerns of further operations taking place overnight. 

Reaction

Among the dozens of detainments, Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West President David Huerta was arrested while protesting Friday, he confirmed.

“What happened to me is not about me; This is about something much bigger. This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice that’s happening. Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals,” Huerta said in a statement afterwards. “We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice. And we all have to stand on the right side of justice.”

U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a post to X on Friday that Huerta “deliberately obstructed” federal agents by blocking their vehicle while they executed a “lawful judicial warrant.” Essayli said Huerta will be arraigned in federal court on Monday after being arrested on suspicion of interfering with federal officers.

On Saturday, Essayli confirmed that more federal law enforcement operations in L.A. County would “proceed as planned” through the weekend.

In a post to X, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem told protesters that they “will not stop” or “slow down” ICE.

“If you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she said.

Attorney General Pam Bondi echoed this in her own post on X, which said, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a judge, a member of Congress, or a protestor in Los Angeles: If you obstruct or assault a law enforcement officer, this Department of Justice will prosecute you.”

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said that “multiple arrests have already been made for obstructing” operations and that “more are coming.”

“You bring chaos, and we’ll bring handcuffs. Law and order will prevail,” said Bongino’s post on X.

L.A. leaders criticized the federal government and Mr. Trump’s push to increase immigration enforcement throughout the Southland in the moments following the raids.

“As Mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place,” Bass said. “These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. My Office is in close coordination with immigrant rights community organizations. We will not stand for this.”

In response to that statement, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller posted on X that Bass has “no say in this at all.” 

“Federal law is supreme and federal law will be enforced,” he said. Miller has previously said the Trump administration was “actively looking at” suspending the writ of habeas corpus in immigration cases. Suspending the writ of habeas corpus in those cases would effectively remove the right for individuals accused of entering the country illegally to appear in court before confinement.

On Friday, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said the department would not cooperate with federal authorities in deportation efforts, a sentiment that L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna later echoed on behalf of his department.

Todd Lyons, the acting ICE Director, shared a statement on Saturday about Friday’s events, saying that federal agents were in the area to arrest criminals and people who were in the country illegally. 

“What took place in Los Angeles yesterday was appalling. As rioters attacked federal ICE and law enforcement officers on the LA streets, Mayor Bass took the side of chaos and lawlessness over law enforcement,” his statement read, in part. “Our brave officers were vastly outnumbered, as over 1,000 rioters surrounded and attacked a federal building. It took over two hours for the Los Angeles Police Department to respond, despite being called multiple times.”

Julie Sharp and

Dean Fioresi

contributed to this report.