The U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive anti-immigration policies have sparked chaos in Los Angeles, with 2,000 National Guard troops ordered to the city following two days of violent clashes in the predominantly Latino Paramount district.

The unrest erupted after a week of heavy-handed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, which resulted in at least 118 arrests, including 44 on Friday. Protesters accuse federal agents of targeting vulnerable immigrant communities, trapping undocumented workers inside businesses, too fearful to leave, as tear gas and flash bangs were used to scatter crowds.

California Governor Gavin Newsom slammed Trump’s decision to federalize the California National Guard, bypassing state authority in a move confirmed by Newsom’s office to the Associated Press. Calling the raids and deployment “purposefully inflammatory,” Newsom warned that federal actions risk escalating tensions further and urged protesters to remain peaceful to avoid giving authorities pretext for more force.

Trump, unapologetic, took to Truth Social to defend his hardline stance, writing: “If Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass won’t do their jobs, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!” A White House statement falsely claimed California’s leaders abandoned public safety, alleging “violent mobs” attacked ICE agents, justifying the troop deployment.

The situation grew dire as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that active-duty Marines at Camp Pendleton are on “high alert” for potential mobilization, a threat Newsom called “deranged behavior.” Trump’s “border tsar,” Tom Homan, arrived in Los Angeles to double down on the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, vowing to crush resistance. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino echoed this on X, posting, “You bring chaos, and we’ll bring handcuffs. Law and order will prevail.”

Local leaders and activists decried the federal overreach. Mayor Karen Bass accused ICE of “sowing terror” and fracturing communities with indiscriminate sweeps. At a rally, Angelica Salas of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights told supporters, “Our community is under attack and is being terrorized. These are workers. These are fathers. These are mothers. And this has to stop.”

As Los Angeles braces for the arrival of federal forces, Trump’s draconian immigration crackdown has turned the city into a battleground, highlighting the human toll of his policies and fueling a broader clash over states’ rights and civil liberties. (ILKHA)