Trump’s border czar has said the National Guard is mobilizing to enter the city of Los Angeles within hours amid tense standoffs between protesters and ICE agents.
‘We are making Los Angeles safer. Mayor (Karen) Bass should be thanking us,’ Tom Homan, President Trump’s point man on border security, said on X on Saturday evening. ‘We are going to bring the National Guard in tonight.’
Federal agents clashed with angry protestors in the Los Angeles area for a second day Saturday, shooting flash-bang grenades into the crowd and shutting part of a freeway amid raids on undocumented migrants, reports said.
The standoff took place in the suburb of Paramount, where demonstrators had gathered near a Home Depot that was being used as a staging area by federal immigration officials.
They were met by federal agents in riot gear and gas masks, who lobbed flash-bang grenades and tear gas at the crowd, according to news reports and social media posts.
Tear gas and smoke filled the air as confrontations between immigration authorities and demonstrators extended into a second day with top Trump administration officials vowed to prosecute anyone who interferes with enforcement.
Border Patrol personnel in riot gear and gas masks stood guard outside an industrial park in the city of Paramount, deploying tear gas as bystanders and protesters gathered on medians and across the street. Some jeered at officers while recording the events on smartphones.
‘ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are,’ a woman said through a megaphone. ‘You are not welcome here.’
Federal agents hold a line during a clash with protesters near a Home Depot after a raid was conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Paramount, California on Saturday
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan has said the National Guard is mobilizing to enter the city of Los Angeles within hours amid tense standoffs between protesters and ICE agents
A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy holds back protesters following multiple detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in the Los Angeles County city of Paramount
One handheld sign read, ‘No Human Being is Illegal.’
Smoke rose from burning shrubbery and refuse in the street, and demonstrators kicked at a Border Patrol vehicle. A boulevard was closed to traffic as Border Patrol agents circulated through the area.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a message on social media addressing ‘LA rioters’ and warning that interference with immigration enforcement will not be tolerated.
The immigration raids are part of President Donald Trump‘s ongoing crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Following the latest clashes in Los Angeles, authorities vowed to prosecute offenders and warned of an escalating security presence.
Trump was elected to a second term largely on a promise to crack down hard on the entry and presence of undocumented migrants who he likened to ‘monsters’ and ‘animals.’
Following the latest clashes in Los Angeles, authorities vowed to prosecute offenders and warned of an escalating security presence.
A pallet burns as protesters and federal agents clash near a Home Depot in Paramount
Protesters run through tear gas fired by federal agents after a raid was conducted by ICE
A federal agent points their projectile gun at protesters during a clash
Police detain a man during a protest in the Paramount section of Los Angeles
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said multiple arrests had been made following Friday’s clashes.
‘You bring chaos, and we’ll bring handcuffs. Law and order will prevail,’ he said on X.
On Saturday, amid chants for ICE agents to get out, some protestors waved Mexican flags while others set a US flag on fire.
Cement blocks and overturned shopping carts served as crude roadblocks.
A crowd swarmed a US Marshals Service bus exiting a nearby freeway, with authorities later closing on and off ramps to keep protesters from taking over the highway.
The tense standoff came a day after masked and armed immigration agents carried out high-profile workplace raids in separate parts of Los Angeles, attracting angry crowds and setting off hours-long standoffs.
A protester holds a Mexican flag during a clash with federal agents. It comes the day after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people across Los Angeles
A protester holds a sign as he stands in front of federal agents as the groups clashed near a Home Depot following a raid
The palm tree-lined streets of Los Angeles was set ablaze by protestors
A woman waves a Mexican flag admist tear gas from law enforcement during a protest
A protester breaks windows on a car during a clash with federal agents
Protesters run through tear gas fired by federal agents
A protester holds a Mexican flag during a clash with federal agents near a Home Depot
‘An insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States,’ White House deputy chief of staff and anti-immigration hardliner Stephen Miller said on X, sharing a video of protesters marching Friday outside Los Angeles’s federal detention center.
Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the US-Mexico border, with the White House setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day.
But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also included people legally residing in the country, including some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges.
Television news footage earlier on Friday showed caravans of unmarked military-style vehicles and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation.
The LAPD did not take part in the immigration enforcement. It was deployed to quell civil unrest after crowds protesting the deportation raids spray-painted anti-ICE slogans on the walls of a federal court building and gathered outside a nearby jail where some of the detainees were reportedly being held.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in a statement condemned the immigration raids.
‘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. We will not stand for this.’
Los Angeles, the second-most populous city in the United States, is one of the most diverse metropolises in the country.
The suburb of Paramount, home to about 50,000 people, is 82 percent Hispanic or Latino, according to US Census data.
