Trump sends military force to LA over immigration protests

US President Donald Trump ordered National Guard troops to Los Angeles, a rare deployment expected Sunday against the state governor's wishes after sometimes-violent protests against immigration enforcement raids.

Trump took federal control of California's state military to push soldiers into the country's second-biggest city, a decision deemed "purposefully inflammatory" by California Governor Gavin Newsom and of a kind not seen for decades according to US media.

The development came after two days of confrontations during which federal agents fired flash-bang grenades and tear gas toward crowds angry at the arrests of dozens of migrants in a city with a large Latino population.

"It's up to us to stand up for our people," said a Los Angeles resident whose parents are immigrants, declining to give her name.

"Whether we get hurt, whether they gas us, whatever they're throwing at us. They're never going to stop us. All we have left is our voice," she told AFP as emergency services lights flashed in the distance.

An AFP photographer saw fires and fireworks light up the streets during clashes, while a protester holding a Mexican flag stood in front of a burnt-out car that had been sprayed with a slogan against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

"President Trump has signed a Presidential Memorandum deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen to address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, blaming what she called California's "feckless" Democratic leaders.

"The Trump Administration has a zero tolerance policy for criminal behavior and violence, especially when that violence is aimed at law enforcement officers trying to do their jobs."

Trump congratulated the National Guard for "a job well done" shortly before midnight on Saturday in a post on Truth Social.

However, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said on social media platform X the troops had not yet been deployed, while AFP journalists have so far not seen them on the ground.

Trump took a swipe at Bass and Newsom, saying in his post they were "unable to handle the task," drawing a comparison with deadly fires that hit the city in January.

“Purposefully inflammatory”

The National Guard -- a reserve military -- is frequently used in natural disasters, such as in the aftermath of the LA fires, and occasionally in instances of civil unrest, but almost always with the consent of local politicians.

California's governor objected to the president's decision, saying it was "purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions."

Federal authorities "want a spectacle. Don't give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully," Newsom said on X.

Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened to involve nearby regular military forces.

"If violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized -- they are on high alert," he wrote on social media.

Law professor Jessica Levinson said Hegseth's intervention appeared symbolic because of the general legal restriction on the use of the US military as a domestic policing force in the absence of an insurrection.

"The National Guard will be able to do (no) more than provide logistical (and) personnel support," she said.

Arrests

Trump has delivered on a promise to crack down hard on the entry and presence of undocumented migrants -- who he has likened to "monsters" and "animals" -- since taking office in January.

The Department for Homeland Security said ICE operations in Los Angeles this week had resulted in the arrest of "118 aliens, including five gang members."

Saturday's standoff took place in the suburb of Paramount, where demonstrators converged on a reported federal facility that the local mayor said was being used as a staging post by agents.

Masked and armed immigration agents carried out high-profile workplace raids in separate parts of Los Angeles on Friday, attracting angry crowds and setting off hours-long standoffs.

Fernando Delgado, a 24-year-old resident, said the raids were "injustices" and those detained were "human beings just like any."

"We're Spanish, we help the community, we help by doing the labor that people don't want to do," he told AFP.

Mayor Bass acknowledged that some city residents were "feeling fear" following the federal immigration enforcement actions.

"Everyone has the right to peacefully protest, but let me be clear: violence and destruction are unacceptable, and those responsible will be held accountable," she said on X.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said multiple arrests had been made following Friday's clashes.

"Law and order will prevail," he said on X.