Hundreds of demonstrators converged outside Los Angeles City Hall on Wednesday, marking the latest escalation in a wave of anti-deportation protests sweeping the nation amidst the Trump administration's intensified crackdown on undocumented immigration.
Protesters, many carrying signs and flags, rallied emphatically before taking to the streets, disrupting traffic as they chanted slogans such as "ICE out of LA" and "The people united will never be defeated." The demonstrations in Los Angeles, which began last Friday following a series of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, intensified over the weekend, leading to dozens of detentions.
In response to what it termed a "third consecutive day of disturbances," the Los Angeles Police Department declared downtown Los Angeles an area of "unlawful assembly."
The escalating local unrest has drawn direct federal intervention, leading to a heated dispute between the White House and California's state leadership. On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the deployment of 3,000 California National Guardsmen to three locations across the Los Angeles area. California Governor Gavin Newsom swiftly condemned the move, labeling it "unlawful" and a "serious breach of state sovereignty." Approximately 700 active-duty Marines reportedly remain on a "prepared to deploy" status.
Further raising the stakes, President Trump suggested on Tuesday the potential use of the Insurrection Act. This rarely invoked federal law empowers a president to deploy the U.S. military domestically, a power last utilized in Los Angeles during the 1992 riots. The mere suggestion underscores the profound and rapidly evolving federal-state confrontation over immigration enforcement. The story is from Viory.