Trump directs ICE to expand deportations in Democratic-run cities, including Los Angeles

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Last updated: Tuesday, June 17, 2025 5:54AM GMT
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LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- President Trump is calling for even more expanded deportation operations in several major cities across the country, including Los Angeles.

Trump in a social media posting called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials "to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History."

The moves comes after large protests erupted in L.A. and other major cities against the Trump administration's immigration policies.

So far, it's not known how exactly that will impact L.A. But Sunday, at the president's directions, the Department of Homeland Security said it would pause most raids on farms, restaurants and hotels.

The Trump administration has continued widespread immigration enforcement activities -- with a reported goal of up to 3,000 deportations per day.

The Los Angeles Police Department has arrested 575 people related to protest activity since they started earlier this month, police said Sunday, including 14 for looting.

Last week, President Donald Trump deployed 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 Marines to tamp down the disruptive demonstrations while the immigration raids continue.

A federal court hearing is set for Tuesday to determine whether Trump or California Gov. Gavin Newsom will control future National Guard activity going forward. Newsom challenged Trump's decision to federalize the Guard, an action U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said in a ruling last week did not follow congressionally mandated procedure.

His ruling was stayed by a three-judge appellate panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in response to a Trump administration notice of appeal, temporarily keeping the National Guard troops under federal control, at least through Tuesday.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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Jun 08, 2025, 11:54 PM GMT

Newsom calls for Trump to rescind order deploying National Guard troops in LA

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday called for the Trump administration to rescind its order deploying National Guard troops in Los Angeles amid ongoing protests over federal immigration enforcement.

In a post on social media, Newsom described the deployment as "unlawful."

"We didn't have a problem until Trump got involved," the governor wrote. "This is a serious breach of state sovereignty - inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they're actually needed."

The social media post included a letter from Newsom's legal affairs secretary, David Sapp, to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Insisting that L.A. city and county law enforcement resources were sufficient to maintain order, Sapp wrote: "There is currently no need for the National Guard to be deployed in Los Angeles, and to do so in this unlawful manner and for such a lengthy period is a serious breach of state sovereignty that seems intentionally designed to inflame the situation, while simultaneously depriving the State from deploying these personnel and resources where they are truly required."

Trump and Hegseth did not immediately respond to the letter.

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Jun 08, 2025, 10:56 PM GMT

101 Freeway closed in downtown LA amid confrontation between protesters, police

As a protest against federal immigration enforcement continued in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, a massive crowd of demonstrators made their way onto the 101 Freeway and stopped traffic in both directions.

The protesters erected a makeshift barrier on the southbound side of the freeway at Spring Street and were immediately confronted by LAPD officers in riot gear. All northbound lanes were also closed.

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Jun 08, 2025, 10:56 PM GMT

LAPD issues tactical alert amid immigration protests

The Los Angeles Police Department issued a tactical alert Sunday afternoon amid ongoing protests over federal immigration enforcement operations.

The announcement was made shortly after 2:30 p.m., prompted by an ongoing march and protest outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles.

Tactical alert protocol keeps police officers on duty on past their shift's end time and allows for officers to be deployed between LAPD divisions, along with some other administrative actions.

Saturday afternoon's alert followed one that was issued for several hours on Friday night amid similar protests.

Those protest prompted the Trump administration to deploy the California National Guard "to address the lawlessness" in California as demonstrations opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations continue in the state, the White House said.

Earlier Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the federal government was moving to "take over the California National Guard," calling the move "purposefully inflammatory" and saying it will "only escalate tensions."

Jun 08, 2025, 8:47 PM GMT

Hundreds gather at immigration protest in downtown LA

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the federal building in downtown Los Angeles for another day of protests against the recent immigration raids.

The group walked from Boyle Heights to the building Thursday afternoon.

The protest was mostly calm, but AIR7 captured a brief moment where tear gas was deployed.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the federal building in downtown Los Angeles for another day of protests against the recent immigration raids.

No injuries have been reported.