Over 30 mayors from the Los Angeles area came together this week with one message for the White House: stop the immigration raids. As protests continue to shake the city, local leaders say the Trump administration is only making things worse by sending in armed forces to support immigration arrests.
At the center of the storm: about 500 National Guard troops trained for immigration ops, according to Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman. Some have already joined ICE agents on raids, although Sherman later walked back claims that troops had detained civilians directly. But the image stuck—and it’s exactly what city leaders say is wrong.
Vice Mayor Brenda Olmos of Paramount, who was hit by rubber bullets during protests, pleaded directly: “You need to stop these raids.” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass added that the federal response is spreading fear “at the behest of the White House.” The city’s curfew now blankets downtown LA nightly—and might stay as long as the raids continue.
Scenes from LA look like a collapsing third-world war zone. Why? Because radical leftists are rioting over basic immigration enforcement. Local leaders are barely lifting a finger to stop it—so President Trump sent in 2,000 National Guardsmen to restore order. Thank God for LAPD,… pic.twitter.com/Pkz0hgHM9x
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) June 8, 2025
So far, more than 400 people have been arrested in Los Angeles, mostly for breaking curfew. But the real chaos came Wednesday night. Police in riot gear charged protesters, fired projectiles, and even injured a young woman near City Hall. One protester, Raymond Martinez, said things were peaceful until police showed up on horseback. “It was chill… then the horses started coming,” he said.
This isn’t just happening in LA. Protests over immigration raids and police crackdowns have spread to New York, Chicago, Dallas, and Austin. In some cities, National Guard troops are already on standby. California Governor Gavin Newsom has taken the fight to court, asking a federal judge to stop the military’s involvement in immigration operations.
But the Trump administration called the lawsuit “a crass political stunt.” The president went further on Truth Social, claiming LA “would be burning to the ground” without his military deployment.
As usual, the truth is messier than the tweet.
Behind the politics are real people—many undocumented, some asylum seekers—who now feel hunted. Families are afraid to take their kids to school. Workers fear a knock on the door. And all this while curfews, tear gas, and riot lines make LA feel more like a combat zone than a city.
Because when did immigration enforcement start to look like a military occupation?
Also Read Here’s What Actually Happened at the Home Depot That Sparked LA’s Immigration Protests
