LA Under Curfew as Protests Rage Over Trump’s Immigration Raids, Troops
A limited curfew has been imposed on downtown Los Angeles starting Tuesday night after several days of fiery protests, vandalism, and looting erupted in response to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration raids. The move comes amid a tense standoff between state and federal governments, with over 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines deployed to the city, a decision President Donald Trump claims is necessary to restore order but which California’s governor has branded an “illegal” breach of sovereignty.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced the curfew would be in effect from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for several days, though it exempts residents and local workers. The decision was made after nights of unrest that saw tensions flare over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids targeting day labourers and factory workers, leading to violent clashes, arson, and widespread looting.
“The real solution to check the deteriorating law and order situation is for the Trump administration to ‘stop the raids’,” Mayor Bass declared at a press conference, highlighting that the Los Angeles Police Department needed help, but not from federal troops whose purpose in the city remains unclear to her. “People have asked me what the Marines are going to do when they get here. That’s a good question, I have no idea,” she said.
The conflict escalated dramatically after President Trump authorized the deployment of federal troops, bypassing California Governor Gavin Newsom. Trump has threatened to invoke the controversial Insurrection Act to quell the protests, which he described as an “assault on peace and public order.”
In response, Governor Newsom’s administration is preparing a lawsuit against the President for overriding his authority as commander-in-chief of the state’s National Guard. “We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved,” Newsom wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed.”
The protests were ignited last Friday when ICE agents conducted a series of coordinated raids, including at a Home Depot parking lot and a clothing manufacturer, detaining more than 40 immigrants. Since then, parts of downtown LA have seen nightly confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement.
While many protests have been peaceful, some have devolved into chaos, with reports of widespread property damage. The curfew aims to prevent further looting and ensure the safety of residents as the city grapples with the dual pressures of civil unrest and an unprecedented federal military presence on its streets.
