Activists plan more events Tuesday in New York, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta. A curfew was imposed across downtown L.A. until 6 a.m.
By Patrick Smith, Mirna Alsharif, Gary Grumbach and Dennis Romero
As immigration raids continued across the country, a curfew went into effect Tuesday night in Los Angeles, the epicenter of protests that spread coast to coast against the detention and removal of suspected undocumented migrants.
Mayor Karen Bass said the curfew, which begins at 8 p.m. and expires at 6 a.m. for an undetermined length of time, was necessary to quell unrest. “If you drive through downtown L.A., the graffiti is everywhere and has caused significant damages,” Bass said, adding that 29 businesses were looted Monday night alone.
Activists had also gathered in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and elsewhere, rebuking the Trump administration’s tough stance against migrants and its aggressive round-up efforts, which Democratic leaders in California have criticized as contributing to a sense of fear across communities.
NBC News has counted at least 25 rallies and demonstrations coast to coast since Monday. Some involved only a few dozen people, while others attracted thousands.
The protests took place as federal immigration raids continued nationwide Tuesday, including a “targeted enforcement operation” in Los Angeles, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as a raid at a meat processing facility in Omaha, Nebraska.
ICE posted a photo on X showing a person wearing military fatigues alongside federal agents, one with “DEA” emblazoned on his vest, standing near a handcuffed person, and a military Humvee painted in camouflage parked next to them. The arrest happened in Los Angeles, ICE said.
In Omaha, two businesses were targeted for federal immigration enforcement operations, local officials said. Mayor John Ewing Jr.’s office said federal agents arrested 80 people at Glenn Valley Foods and Lala Dairy.
Cellphone video of the scene at Glenn Valley Foods showed agents in green uniforms, camouflage clothing and plainclothes appearing to detain several workers, hands cuffed, in the facility’s lunchroom, where a motto was painted on a wall: “Together we achieve more.”
Chad Hartmann, a spokesperson for Glenn Valley Foods, said in a statement that federal agents searched the company’s facility “for persons believed to be using fraudulent documents to gain employment.”
He said that the company strives to operate within the law, that it is cooperating with agents and that it “is not being charged with any crime.”
California and the West Coast
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized an estimated 700 Marines and more than 2,000 National Guard troops for deployment to Los Angeles, a move California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have sharply criticized as unnecessary.
“This is not an insurrection,” Bass said in an interview Tuesday.
She announced that a curfew will be enforced in a 1-square-mile of downtown in an attempt to prevent vandalism and looting. She emphasized that the curfew area, where people will be subject to arrest, is a small fraction of the city’s nearly 500-square-mile landscape. “This is not citywide civil unrest,” she said, describing the protests.
Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday that officers under its command, along with partner agencies, have arrested more than 300 people in connection with the protests since Saturday. During that time, seven officers have been injured, at least five with minor injuries and two who were hospitalized and released, the department said.
California Highway Patrol Assistant Chief Kyle Foster said Tuesday that 67 people who protested on the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles over the weekend, shutting it down for hours, were arrested on suspicion of failure to disperse. That number was included in the LAPD’s account of arrests since Saturday.
The Trump administration-ordered Marines could be used to provide security and transportation for ICE personnel as they continue to arrest immigrants, said two sources familiar with the plans. That includes driving ICE agents to arrest locations in military vehicles.
“All we want is safety,” Trump said Tuesday.
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The Marines are expected to begin “conducting operations” by Wednesday, a spokesperson for U.S. Northern Command said by email Tuesday.
Under federal law, National Guard troops and Marines are generally prohibited from making arrests unless the president declares an insurrection is underway.
However, Newsom said Tuesday, the Trump administration has federalized troops and directed members of the National Guard to participate in law enforcement, including arrests, contrary to federal law that would require his approval for such an expansion of duties.
The state filed an emergency request for a temporary restraining order Tuesday that seeks to block the expansion of troops’ authority in Los Angeles. It was added to the state’s lawsuit that seeks to reverse troop deployment in California, arguing it is an unlawful power grab by Trump.
California House Democrats held a news conference Tuesday to discuss ICE arrests and the deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles. Rep. Nanette Barragán, who represents the city of Paramount, where a demonstration took place over the weekend, said protests were already under control when National Guard members arrived.
“The sheriff’s department in Paramount got it under control,” Barragán said. “Overnight in Los Angeles, the LAPD got it under control, as well, and cleared out the situation. And then all of a sudden, the National Guard showed up. We know this is intended to create chaos, to escalate the tensions.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi framed the ICE protests in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. She said that Trump would not send in the National Guard even when she and other lawmakers “begged” him to but that he activated the guard in California without any prompting.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said the National Guard’s role, along with the Marines’, is to protect federal employees and facilities, not aid in protest response.
“The anxiety level is higher, probably because they’re here and the uncertainty of why they’re here,” he said. “But they’re not, they’re not with us doing the job that we’re doing.”
He said in a statement Monday that he was not notified of the Marine deployment, and he urged federal officials to coordinate with him and other local law enforcement officials.
“The arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles — absent clear coordination — presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city,” he said, urging communication between agencies.
Bass has stressed that the troops are not necessary in Los Angeles. She also criticized comments from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who called Bass “a train wreck of a mayor,” as well as “border czar” Tom Homan, who said she and Newsom could be arrested if they impede law enforcement.
“The White House instigated this by having ICE raids in our city,” Bass said. “They are telling us that they’re going to have raids for the next 30 days.”
Protesters gathered around 2 p.m. local time Tuesday near Alameda Street in Los Angeles. Video shot by NBC News showed law enforcement officers arriving on the scene, including U.S. marshals.
Protests also took place in New York City; Chicago; Philadelphia, Portland, Oregon, Seattle, and Las Vegas.
In Seattle, about 50 people gathered outside a federal immigration court Tuesday to decry the raids, according to NBC affiliate KING. One of the protesters, Mathieu Chabaud, of Students for a Democratic Society, said: “We’re opposed to ICE in our community.”
In Las Vegas, roughly two dozen people gathered outside the Federal Tower downtown, where ICE has offices, to register their disapproval with the immigration enforcement efforts.
NBC affiliate KSNV reported that organizers of the protest met beforehand with members of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to ensure ground rules were clear and arrests could be avoided where possible.
New York and the East Coast
New York police said multiple arrests took place Tuesday amid protests against immigration enforcement; at least nine people were arrested the day before during an intense standoff, NBC New York reported.
The event targeted ICE raids and the travel ban Trump imposed on 12 countries worldwide this week, with restrictions on people from seven more countries.
In Philadelphia, police clashed with protesters outside the Federal Detention Center in Center City, where 14 people were arrested on allegations ranging from disorderly conduct to aggravated assault, police said in a statement. Two police officers and two people who were arrested sustained minor injuries, they said.
Protesters also gathered in Boston, Washington, and Baltimore.
Texas, the South and the Midwest
More than a dozen protesters were arrested in Austin, Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott said on X early Tuesday.
“Peaceful protesting is legal. But once you cross the line, you will be arrested. FAFO,” Abbott wrote on X.
Austin police said in a statement that protesters marched Monday night from the Texas Capitol to the JJ Pickle Federal Building, near where four officers were injured as some threw rocks their way. Officers retreated before using less-lethal rounds and “gas” to get an upper hand and disperse crowds, the police department said.
Among allegations against those arrested in Austin, police said, were rioting, criminal mischief and harassment of a public servant, it said.
The Daily Texan reported that nearly 500 gathered at the Texas Capitol on Monday, while hundreds gathered in San Antonio, according to Spectrum News 1.
At least one person was arrested Monday in Dallas, police said, with charges pending, as protesters and law enforcement met in a standoff that shut down a busy intersection.
Rallies and demonstrations also took place in Charlotte, North Carolina; Atlanta; Louisville, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; Chicago; Detroit; and Oklahoma City.
Rallies were also planned for Tuesday, including in Columbus, Ohio, Chicago and Atlanta.
A sedan veered toward protesters in Chicago on Tuesday, but no one was injured, police and fire officials told NBC Chicago. The driver was taken into custody, the station said.
Noem signaled Tuesday that she would continue the agency’s program of raids and deportations despite the widespread protests.
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