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

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Wednesday stood alongside several other Southern California mayors to call for the end to ICE raids across Southern California.

Bass was joined by more than 30 other mayors of cities across the region, including Paramount, South Gate and Huntington Park as she made her remarks.

"A week ago, everything was peaceful in the city of Los Angeles and... in their cities as well. Things began to be difficult on Friday when raids took place," Bass said during a press conference.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was joined by more than 30 regional mayors from across Southern California to call for the stop to ICE raids and the withdrawal of federalized troops.

The mayor suggested that was the cause of the unrest that has gripped the region since then.

"This was provoked by the White House. The reason why, we don't know. I posit that maybe we are part of a national experiment to determine how far the federal government can go in reaching in and taking over power from a governor, power from a local jurisdiction and frankly, leaving our city and our citizens, our residents, in fear."

"To have people live in fear, like it is today, is just unacceptable."

The group of mayors also called for the withdrawal of federalized National Guard troops and U.S. Marines from the region. Bass called the deployments a "chaotic escalation" that is "completely unnecessary."

"When you raid Home Depots and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you're not trying to keep anyone safe. You're trying to cause fear and panic," Bass said.

"These aren't the criminals the administration is allegedly targeting. These are mothers and fathers... every day Angelenos trying to make a living."

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said 61 Mexican nationals have been detained in the LA raids and are now in detention centers.

Two men are being charged by the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles for possession of an unregistered destructive device for their alleged roles in LA protest violence, federal prosecutors will announce Wednesday.

Emiliano Galvez and Wrackkie Quiogue are both accused of trying to throw Molotov cocktails at police, according to federal prosecutors.

When the LAPD approached Quiogue -- who officials said was armed with a Molotov cocktail at Sunday's protest in downtown LA -- he allegedly "threw the Molotov cocktail into the air and attempted to flee," the complaint said. LAPD officers subdued Quiogue and arrested him, prosecutors said.

Galvez is accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail over a wall toward LA sheriff's deputies who were "engaging in crowd control activities" during a protest in Paramount, a south LA city, on Saturday, federal prosecutors said. Galvez was arrested after a foot chase, officials said.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom's lawsuit challenging the Trump administration from using the military to enforce federal immigration laws is a "crass political stunt endangering American lives," Department of Justice lawyers said.

The lawyers asked a federal judge to deny Newsom's request for a temporary restraining order that would limit the military to protecting federal buildings, arguing such an order would amount to a "rioters' veto to enforcement of federal law."

"The extraordinary relief Plaintiffs request would judicially countermand the Commander in Chief's military directives -- and would do so in the posture of a temporary restraining order, no less. That would be unprecedented. It would be constitutionally anathema. And it would be dangerous," they argued.

In Newsom's request for an emergency order blocking the troops from assisting in federal law enforcement, he argued Trump failed to meet the legal requirements for a federal deployment of the National Guard. Title 10 of the U.S. Code on Armed Services allows a federal deployment in response to a "rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States."

"To put it bluntly, there is no invasion or rebellion in Los Angeles; there is civil unrest that is no different from episodes that regularly occur in communities throughout the country, and that is capable of being contained by state and local authorities working together," Newsom argued.

In response, lawyers with the Department of Justice argued that California should not "second-guess the President's judgment that federal reinforcements were necessary" and that a federal court should defer to the president's discretion on military matters.a