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

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

There are currently 4,100 California National Guardsmen and 700 Marines in the greater Los Angeles area after President Donald Trump ordered them to protect federal buildings and federal law enforcement as protests opposed to ICE raids increased over the weekend.

Most of the attention has been focused on the crowd control assistance that these troops could provide around federal buildings, but Trump's memo calling up National Guardsmen also said they would "temporarily protect ICE and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions, including the enforcement of Federal law."

On Tuesday, the X page for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) posted photos of California National Guardsmen on the scene of a detention being carried out by an ICE agent with the caption "Photos from today's ICE Los Angeles immigration enforcement operation."

The Posse Comitatus Act prevents active-duty U.S. military personnel from carrying out domestic law enforcement duties though that restriction can be lifted when a president invokes the Insurrection Act, which President Trump has not done.

In the photos, the National Guardsmen were armed with rifles but it was unclear if they were loaded with ammunition. ABC News has previously reported that while the federalized troops are carrying weapons, their guns will not have ammunition loaded in the chamber, according to U.S. officials. But they will carry ammunition as part of their regular uniforms that can be used in the rare case of needed self-defense.

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In downtown Los Angeles Tuesday night, 203 people were arrested for failing to disperse and 17 were arrested for curfew violation, the LAPD said.

Another three people were arrested for possession of a firearm, one person was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer and one was arrested for discharging a laser at an LAPD airship, police said.

Two LAPD officers were hurt, police said.

The arrests came after LA Mayor Karen Bass issued an overnight curfew for about 1 square mile of downtown.

The ICE raids are stoking a great deal of fear and anxiety in Santee Alley, the open-air shopping mart in downtown Los Angeles' Fashion District.

That's where much of the work is done by migrant laborers - documented or otherwise.

One man who works in the area told Eyewitness News many of his co-workers are not showing up for work out of fear of being arrested.

"I can't seem to figure out what's going on with a lot of my sewers, so my business is actually being affected by this situation... like real-time, right now," said Jared Lamar. "Everybody is enraged at this point and (that's) because people are being taken out of their homes. What are they supposed to do?"

Amidst all that turmoil, shoppers are also staying away.

Santee Alley is usually bustling, even on a week day. It was virtually empty on Tuesday.