On Friday, June 6, protests started in Los Angeles in an attempt to protest against the Trump Administration’s immigration raids, which have been stressed by the president for his entire term. The administration has since deployed the National Guard and hundreds of Marines.
Addendum
It is important to state that this article has since been edited since its publication. All references to these protests that refer to them as riots has been edited; this is due to public request, personal accounts from California citizens as well as additional research.
Please note that the difference between riots and protests: a protest is an action that expresses disapproval of or objection of something, while a riot is a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd. While there have been examples of violence during the LA protests, many accounts show that the violence started from the National Guard and additional sources, not from the protestors themselves.
There have been some examples of retaliation efforts; however, this does not qualify as riots. It is important to stress that the general public has made efforts to be peaceful and within the law despite violent action from the police.
How did the protests start?
ICE, or the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is a governmental organization that serves to investigate elements of immigration and homeland security.
“ICE was created in 2003 through a merger of the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the former U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. ICE now has more than 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel in more than 400 offices in the United States and around the world,” ICE’s website reads.
It also states that its yearly budget is roughly $8 billion.
It has often been used by the Trump Administration to carry out “immigration raids,” in which ICE enters public and private property, including schools, churches, libraries and homes to identify and restrain those they believe may be in the US illegally.
These raids have progressed throughout the US over the past few months, and has led to many complaints and protests against the power ICE holds, as well as the Trump Administration as a whole.
LA became the victim of the most recent bout of ICE arrests last week– with Friday, June 6 being the primary date which sparked the subsequent protests.
“ICE agents are in Los Angeles as part of President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration in the [US],” CBS News states. “Arrests by the agency during Mr. Trump's second term topped 100,000 as of last week, according to internal government data.. Agents have detained people on immigration charges in courthouses, at worksites and in communities across the country.”
On that day, ICE reports that four federal search warrants were served at three locations in LA, and over 40 suspected undocumented migrants were arrested at one worksite alone. An additional 77 or more were arrested in various LA locations, including a Home Depot parking lot.
Demonstrations began on Friday night and spread into the weekend.
The current progress of the protests
While the demonstrations began as peaceful, things have since escalated into more violent territory due to outside enforcement efforts.
Monday morning started with a union rally to retaliate against the arrest of David Heurta, a labor leader and President of the Service Employees International Union California.
“[SEIUC] represents thousands of the state’s janitors, security officers and other workers,” AP News states.
This union rally has moments of positivity in which protesters danced and gathered around for peaceful and joyous interaction, even with the heavy law enforcement presence in the area.
The situation escalated to more violence as the days went on, however. Violence only began after President Trump deployed the National Guard and the Marines, which was the first time in decades in which it was deployed without a governor’s request.
AP News states: “The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor’s permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.”
This decision wildly contrasts President Trump’s previous decisions, and also goes against the desires of California officials, who were previously able to ensure that protests were peaceful.
On Tuesday morning, Rep. Jimmy Gomez organized a press conference at the U.S. capitol, in which he said: “It’s a deliberate attempt by Trump to incite unrest, test the limits of executive power and distract from the lawlessness of his administration.”
California’s Democratic members of the congressional delegation have accused Trump of creating a “manufactured crisis” by sending in the National Guard of his own decision.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi criticized Trump’s decision as well, comparing it to his lack of action during the Jan. 6 riots.
“We begged the president of the United States to send in the National Guard. He would not do it,” Pelosi said. During the Jan. 6 riots, law enforcement officers were beaten by protestors; Trump ultimately did not send the National Guard; instead, he pardoned these protestors when he came back to power in 2024.
At this week’s LA protests, the violence from protesters has been confined to objects and buildings. Law enforcement vehicles have been vandalized with spray paint, objects such as concrete and molotov cocktails have been thrown at these vehicles and minimal looting has occurred. However, law enforcement has used tear gas and non-lethal bullets to disperse protestors, as well as flash-bang grenades.
Mandated curfew now in effect
As of June 10, a downtown curfew has been set in the LA area. California governor Gavin Newsom also requested an emergency stop to the military, including the National Guard and Marines, helping ICE and immigration agents.
“He said it would only heighten tensions and promote civil unrest,” AP News authors wrote.
The judges have decided to not rule immediately, meaning the situation will continue as-is until its official hearing on Thursday.
The curfew was put into effect as a result of 23 businesses being looted; it also can be connected to the other violent acts going on throughout the streets of LA. This curfew does not apply to residents who live in the designated area, people who are homeless, credentialed media or public safety and emergency officials.
Protests and demonstrations have spread to major cities in the US over the weekend and continue to this day, including New York City, Chicago and Dallas and Austin, Texas.
Most protests continue to be peaceful. ICE arrests continue to be made. Trump is currently considering invoking the Insurrection Act, which “authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the U.S. to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations. It’s one of the most extreme emergency powers available to a U.S. president,” according to AP News.
