Live Updates: Trump to Send National Guard to L.A. to Quell Immigration Protests

 

Live Updates: Trump to Send National Guard to L.A. to Quell Immigration Protests

Gov. Gavin Newsom called the decision to call in National Guard forces “purposefully inflammatory.” The president’s order came on the second day of protests and clashes over federal immigration raids in Los Angeles.

 

Updated

June 8, 2025, 1:19 a.m. ET16 minutes ago

Hamed Aleaziz Laurel Rosenhall Orlando Mayorquín and Mimi Dwyer

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/07/us/la-immigration-raid-protests

 

Here is the latest.

President Trump on Saturday ordered at least 2,000 National Guard members to Los Angeles County to assist immigration agents who were clashing with demonstrators protesting workplace raids, saying that any protest or act of violence that impeded officials would be considered a “form of rebellion.”

 

Mr. Trump’s order was an extraordinary escalation that puts Los Angeles squarely at the center of tensions over his administration’s immigration crackdown. It was issued as officers faced off with hundreds of protesters for a second consecutive day in the Los Angeles area, in some cases using rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades.

 

As night fell in California, demonstrators near a freeway entrance about 18 miles south of downtown Los Angeles were hurling fireworks and rocks at a police officers, who responded with volleys of rubber projectiles. As some demonstrators in the area took over an intersection after setting a car ablaze, others hurled glass bottles filled with a substance that smelled like gasoline at a police line.

 

In downtown Los Angeles, the police declared an unlawful assembly for a block that included the Metropolitan Detention Center, a site of protests over the past two days. The police ordered protesters to disperse, saying on social media that officers were authorized to use less-than-lethal munitions.

 

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California pushed back against Mr. Trump’s order, saying it was “purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.” He later said that the federal government was mobilizing National Guard troops “not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle.”

 

As of 9:30 p.m. local time, there were no immediate sign of any National Guard troops on streets in the Los Angeles area. Thomas D. Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar, had told Fox News earlier that the administration was planning to bring the National Guard there on Saturday night.

 

Protests broke out in the L.A. area on Friday and Saturday as federal agents mounted raids on workplaces in search of undocumented immigrants.

 

One site of demonstrations on Saturday was Paramount, a city about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. The area has a large Latino population and had been rumored to be the target of an immigration operation. There were also clashes and demonstrations in Compton, a city across a freeway from Paramount.

 

Here’s what else to know:

 

Workplace raids: The recent raids appeared to be part of a new phase of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, in which officials say they will increasingly focus on workplaces. Read more>

 

Arrests: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested 121 immigrants across Los Angeles on Friday, according to a Department of Homeland Security official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

 

Trump administration: Trump administration officials spent much of Saturday criticizing the protests in the region. Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, repeatedly posted on social media about the protests, describing them at various points as an “insurrection.”

 

ICE: Mr. Homan on Fox News indicated that the ICE operation would continue. “They’re not going to shut us down,” he said. “We’re out there right now doing operations.”