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 16, 2025, 6:41 AM GMT

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

President Donald Trump on Sunday directed federal immigration officials to prioritize deportations from Democratic-run cities, a move that comes after large protests erupted in Los Angeles and other major cities against the Trump administration's immigration policies.

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."

He added that to reach the goal officials "must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America's largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside."

President Donald Trump on Sunday directed federal immigration officials to prioritize deportations from Democratic-run cities.

Trump's declaration comes after weeks of increased enforcement, and after Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and main architect of Trump's immigration policies, said ICE officers would target at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of Trump's second term.

At the same time, the Trump administration has directed immigration officers to pause arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels, after Trump expressed alarm about the impact aggressive enforcement is having on those industries, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter who spoke only on condition of anonymity.

Protests over federal immigration enforcement raids have been flaring up around the country.

Opponents of Trump's immigration policies took to the streets as part of the "no kings" demonstrations Saturday that came as Trump held a massive parade in Washington for the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.

Saturday's protests were mostly peaceful, but police in Los Angeles used tear gas and crowd-control munitions to clear out protesters after the event ended.

Officers in Portland, Oregon, also fired tear gas and projectiles to disperse a crowd that protested in front of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building well into the evening.

Trump made the call for stepped-up enforcement in Democratic-controlled cities on social media as he was making his way to the Group of Seven economic summit in Alberta, Canada.

He suggested to reporters as he departed the White House for the G7 on Sunday evening that his decision to deploy National Guard troops to Los Angeles was the reason the protests in that city went peacefully.

"If we didn't have the National Guard on call and ready, they would rip Los Angeles apart," Trump said.

The shift also comes as Trump is grappling with the impact his mass deportation effort is having on key industries that rely on workers in the country illegally.

Trump posted on his Truth Social site Thursday that he heard from hotel, agriculture and leisure industries that his "very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them" and promised that changes would be made.

That same day, Tatum King, an official with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations unit, wrote to regional leaders telling them to halt investigations of the agriculture industry, including meatpackers, as well as of restaurants and hotels, according to the U.S. official.

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Jun 16, 2025, 7:03 AM GMT

35 curfew violation citations issued during DTLA 'No Kings' rally Saturday, few arrests: LAPD

Small demonstrations and protests continued in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday after Saturday's "No Kings" rally drew tens of thousands of attendees.

Before Sunday's curfew went into effect, there were protests at City Hall and a few blocks away at Pershing Square.

Adrian Guerrero, with the group "Dare to Struggle," organized the rally in Pershing Square. Dozens of people gathered and called for the end of the ICE raids.

"We intend to continue standing with those people who are coming under attack, whether they are our immigrant brothers and sisters, or all those who are facing charges," Guerrero said.

A few people were arrested during the "No Kings" rally Saturday for failing to disperse, obstruction, and resisting. According to LAPD, 35 people were cited Saturday for breaking the 8 p.m. curfew.

Small demonstrations and protests continued in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday after Saturday's "No Kings" rally drew tens of thousands of attendees.

Since the daily demonstrations began on June 7 to protest federal immigration raids in the Los Angeles area, the LAPD has arrested 561 people related to protest activity, according to the department. Twelve officers have been injured, police added. Further details about the extent of their injuries were not immediately available.

Sunday marks the fifth day of the curfew in a one-mile section of downtown. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says she will re-evaluate the need for the curfew and its effectiveness each day.

After Sunday night's curfew went into effect, Eyewitness News spotted a lot of empty chairs at restaurants downtown.

The curfew's impact on businesses has been significant.

Alex Duarte manages The Oyster Gourmet at Grand Central Market. He says he's lost half his sales for the week.

"We're hurting. We all have cut hours. We also have to pay rent. We still have bills to pay here. Nobody's coming down here," Duarte said.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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Jun 16, 2025, 2:17 AM GMT

Mayor Bass says downtown L.A. curfew will likely continue for the next few days

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass sat down with Eyewitness News for a one-on-one interview on Sunday, where she said she anticipates the downtown curfew to continue for a few days.

Bass said she spent time Saturday watching the "No Kings" protests from a helicopter above the city. She said she went by all 15 locations that had protests, where everything remained peaceful until the sun set in downtown L.A.

"There were 20,000 to 30,000 people there. It was overwhelmingly peaceful," Bass said. "In all of those folks, you would have imagined there would have been hundreds of arrests... There were five arrests, but about 35 people received citations, which is about equivalent to a ticket. "

Bass said she hopes the number of people involved in vandalism and curfew violations downtown will taper off over the next couple of days. She is continuing to monitor the need and effectiveness of the curfew daily.

The nightly curfew has been from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. in a one-mile section of downtown.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told Eyewitness News she anticipates the downtown curfew to continue for a few days. Watch her full interview here.

Meanwhile, Bass maintains that ongoing ICE raids across the city are having a negative impact on the economy, keeping people at home and sparking anger and fear.

"Today is Father's Day, and there are missing fathers around our city. There are families who don't know where their fathers are, they don't know if they are still in the country, had no opportunity to interact with them or know how they're doing, don't know where they are," Bass said. "Their legal counsel has not been able to access them."

Despite criticism from some, Bass said business owners downtown reached out to her office directly, asking for the curfew to be put in place. She reminded residents that if you have plans downtown, such as a restaurant reservation or tickets for an event, you can still go. She said law enforcement knows the difference between people trying to live their lives and people going downtown to cause mayhem.

Bass said she has submitted a request to speak to President Donald Trump, but has not heard back.

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Jun 15, 2025, 4:56 PM GMT

Armed felon arrested at Huntington Beach protest

A person carrying a gun was arrested at the "No Kings Day" protest in Huntington Beach on Saturday afternoon.

Eduardo Pineda was arrested after yelling at a pedestrian and threatening to knock that person out in the middle of the street, according to the Huntington Beach Police Department. That confrontation happened just a few blocks from the pier.

A person carrying a gun was arrested at the "No Kings Day" protest in Huntington Beach on Saturday afternoon.

He was also carrying a loaded handgun.

Police later learned that Pineda had warrants out for his arrest and is a convicted felon, which means he's not allowed to possess a firearm.