President Donald Trump's administration said it would deploy 2,000 National Guard troops as federal agents in Los Angeles faced off against demonstrators for a second day following immigration raids.
The security agents were in a tense confrontation with protesters in the Paramount area in south-east Los Angeles overnight (Saturday local time), where some demonstrators displayed Mexican flags and others covered their mouths with respiratory masks.
Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News that the National Guard would be deployed in Los Angeles on Sunday (Saturday evening local time).
A statement from the White House said Trump had signed a memorandum deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen "to address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester".
"The Trump administration has a zero tolerance policy for criminal behaviour and violence, especially when that violence is aimed at law enforcement officers trying to do their jobs. These criminals will be arrested and swiftly brought to justice," the statement said.
A woman waves a Mexican flag admid tear gas from law enforcement during a protest in the Paramount section of Los Angeles. Source: AAP / Eric Thayer/AP
The protests pit Democratic-run Los Angeles, where census data suggests a significant portion of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born, against Trump's Republican White House, which has made cracking down on immigration a hallmark of his second term.
Video footage showed dozens of green-uniformed security personnel with gas masks lined up on a road strewn with overturned shopping carts as small canisters exploded into gas clouds.
A first round of protests kicked off on Saturday (Friday night local time) after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted enforcement operations in the city and arrested at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations.
Demonstrators protest outside the Edward R Roybal Federal Building and the Metropolitan Detention Centre in response to ICE raids. Source: Getty / Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times
Immigration crackdown
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement that "1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer funded property".
The Reuters news agency was unable to verify DHS's accounts. Angelica Salas, executive director of immigrants rights organisation Chirla, said lawyers had not had access to those detained on Saturday (Friday local time), which she called "very worrying".
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 caught up people legally residing in the country, including some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges.
In a statement on Friday (Saturday local time) about the protests in Paramount, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office said: "It appeared that federal law enforcement officers were in the area, and that members of the public were gathering to protest."
A protester places debris in a fire as Border Patrol personnel in riot gear and gas masks stand guard outside an industrial park in the Paramount section of Los Angeles. Source: AAP / Eric Thayer/AP
ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on the protests or potential immigration sweeps on Sunday (Saturday local time).
Television news footage on Saturday (Friday local time) showed unmarked vehicles resembling military transport and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation.
Raids occurred around Home Depots, where street vendors and day labourers were picked up, as well as at a garment factory and a warehouse, Salas said.
Los Angeles County Sheriffs stand in line during a protest in Compton. Source: AAP / Eric Thayer/AP
'We will not stand for this'
The Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, 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."
