Protests pop up across US with more planned

LOS ANGELES — Several US cities braced for protests on Wednesday against President Donald Trump's sweeping immigration raids, as parts of the country's second-largest city Los Angeles spent the night under curfew in an effort to quell five days of demonstrations.

The Governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, said he will deploy the National Guard this week, ahead of planned protests. Protesters and police in Austin clashed on Monday.

Trump's measures of sending National Guard and Marines to quell protests in Los Angeles have sparked a national debate on the use of military on US soil and pitted the Republican president against California's Democrat governor.

"This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk. That's when the downward spiral began," California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a video address on Tuesday.

"He again chose escalation. He chose more force. He chose theatrics over public safety. … Democracy is under assault."

Newsom, widely seen as preparing for a presidential run in 2028, and the state of California sued Trump and the Defense Department on Monday, seeking to block the deployment of federal troops. Trump, in turn, has suggested Newsom should be arrested.

Hundreds of US Marines arrived in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday under orders from Trump, after he also ordered the deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops to the city. The Marines and the National Guard are to be used for the protection of government personnel and buildings and not for police action.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the deployments were not necessary as police could manage the protests, the majority of which have been peaceful, and limited to about five streets.

However, due to looting and violence at night she imposed a curfew on part of the city's downtown, starting Tuesday night. The curfew will last several days.

Mass arrests

Police said multiple groups stayed on the streets in some areas despite the curfew and "mass arrests" were initiated. Police earlier said that 197 people had already been arrested on Tuesday — more than double the total number of arrests to date.

Democratic leaders have raised concerns over a national crisis in what has become the most intense flashpoint yet in the US administration's efforts to deport migrants living in the country illegally, and then crack down on opponents who take to the streets in protest.

Trump, voted back into office last year largely for his promise to deport undocumented immigrants, used a speech honoring soldiers on Tuesday to defend his decision.

He told troops at the army base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina: "Generations of army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness."

Demonstrators have waved the flags of Mexico and other countries in solidarity with the migrants rounded up in a series of intensifying raids.

Homeland Security said on Monday its Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, division had arrested 2,000 immigration offenders per day recently, far above the 311 daily average in fiscal year 2024 under former president Joe Biden.

Protests have also taken place in other cities, including New York, Atlanta and Chicago, where demonstrators shouted at and scuffled with officers. Some protesters climbed onto the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza, while others chanted that ICE should be abolished.

Texas Governor Abbott said late on Tuesday that he will deploy the National Guard, which "will use every tool & strategy to help law enforcement maintain order".

South Texas organizations are expected to hold anti-ICE rallies on Wednesday and Saturday, CNN reported local media as saying.

About 700 Marines were in a staging area in the Seal Beach area about 50 kilometers south of Los Angeles on Tuesday, awaiting deployment to specific locations, a US official said.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta told Reuters the state was concerned about allowing federal troops to protect personnel, saying there was a risk that could violate an 1878 law that generally forbids the military, including the National Guard, from taking part in civilian law enforcement.

"Protecting personnel likely means accompanying ICE agents into communities and neighborhoods, and protecting functions could mean protecting the ICE function of enforcing the immigration law," Bonta said.

Agencies via Xinhua