Dozens of LA-area mayors demand the Trump administration stop
intensified immigration raids
[June 12, 2025]
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and HALLIE GOLDEN
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dozens of mayors from across the Los Angeles region
banded together Wednesday to demand that the Trump administration stop
the stepped-up immigration raids that have spread fear across their
cities and sparked protests across the U.S.
But there were no signs President Donald Trump would heed their pleas.
About 500 of the National Guard troops deployed to the Los Angeles
protests have been trained to accompany agents on immigration
operations, the commander in charge said Wednesday. And while some
troops have already gone on such missions, he said it’s too early to say
if that will continue even after the protests die down.
“We are expecting a ramp-up,” said Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, noting that
protests across the nation were being discussed. “I’m focused right here
in LA, what’s going on right here. But you know, I think we’re, we’re
very concerned.”
Hours later, a demonstration in Los Angeles’ civic center just before
start of the second night of the city’s downtown curfew briefly turned
chaotic when police in riot gear — many on horseback — charged at a
group, striking them with wooden rods and later fired crowd control
projectiles, including one that struck a woman who writhed in pain on
the ground. After the curfew went into effect, a handful of arrests were
made before the area cleared out and the evening quieted down.
The LA-area mayors and city council members urged Trump to stop using
armed military troops alongside immigration agents.
“I’m asking you, please listen to me, stop terrorizing our residents,”
said Brenda Olmos, vice mayor of Paramount, who said she was hit by
rubber bullets over the weekend. “You need to stop these raids.”
Speaking alongside the other mayors at a news conference, Los Angeles
Mayor Karen Bass said the raids spread fear at the behest of the White
House. The city’s nightly curfew will remain in effect as long as
necessary. It covers a 1-square-mile (2.5-square-kilometer) section of
downtown where the protests have been concentrated in the city that
encompasses roughly 500 square miles (1,295 square kilometers).
“If there are raids that continue, if there are soldiers marching up and
down our streets, I would imagine that the curfew will continue,” Bass
said.
Those who have been caught up in the nationwide raids include asylum
seekers, people who overstayed their visas and migrants awaiting their
day in immigration court.
The administration has cited the protests in its decision to deploy the
military.
Governor asks court to step in
California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, has asked a federal
court to put an emergency stop to the military helping immigration
agents in the nation’s second-largest city. This week, guardsmen began
standing protectively around agents as they carry out arrests. A judge
set a hearing for Thursday.
The Trump administration called the lawsuit a “crass political stunt
endangering American lives" in its official response on Wednesday.
The military is now closer to engaging in law enforcement actions such
as deportations, as Trump has promised in his crackdown. The Guard has
the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers, but any
arrests must be made by law enforcement.
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Los Angeles police officers surround protesters under arrest on
Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
The president posted on the Truth Social platform that the city
“would be burning to the ground” if he had not sent in the military.
Some 2,000 National Guard soldiers are in Los Angeles and are soon
to be joined by 2,000 more along with about 700 Marines, Sherman
said.
Speaking in an interview with The Associated Press and ABC, Sherman
initially said National Guard troops had already temporarily
detained civilians in the Los Angeles protests over immigration
raids. He later said he based his comments on photos and footage he
had seen that turned out not to be a representation of Guard members
in Los Angeles.
Curfew continues in downtown LA
Police detained more than 20 people, mostly on curfew violations, on
the first night of the curfew and used crowd-control projectiles to
break up hundreds of protesters. But officers were more aggressive
in controlling demonstrators Wednesday evening and as the curfew
took effect, police were beginning to make arrests.
Los Angeles police have made nearly 400 arrests and detentions since
Saturday, the vast majority of which were for failing to leave the
area at the request of law enforcement, according to the police
department.
There have been a handful of more serious charges, including for
assault against police officers and for possession of a Molotov
cocktail and a gun. Nine police officers have been hurt, mostly with
minor injures. Some were transported to a hospital and released.
Protests have spread nationwide
Demonstrations have also spread to other cities nationwide,
including Dallas and Austin in Texas, and Chicago and New York,
where thousands rallied and more arrests were made.
In New York City, police said they took 86 people into custody
during protests in lower Manhattan that lasted into Wednesday
morning. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the majority of
demonstrators were peaceful.
A 66-year-old woman in Chicago was injured when she was struck by a
car during downtown protests Tuesday evening, police said. Video
showed a car speeding down a street where people were protesting.
In Texas, where police in Austin used chemical irritants to disperse
several hundred demonstrators Monday, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s
office said Texas National Guard troops were “on standby" in areas
where demonstrations are planned.
Guard members were sent to San Antonio, but Police Chief William
McManus said he had not been told how many troops were deployed or
their role ahead of planned protests Wednesday night and Saturday.
Officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety said the Texas
National Guard was present at a protest downtown.
The protests began Friday after federal immigration raids arrested
dozens of workers in Los Angeles.
___
Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press writers Julie Watson
in San Diego, Jesse Bedayn in Denver, and Jim Vertuno in Austin,
Texas, contributed to this report.
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