Anti-ICE protesters block part of Los Angeles freeway on third day of unrest

(NewsNation) — Protesters in downtown Los Angeles blocked part of U.S. Route 101 as demonstrations against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement entered a third day Sunday.

Anti-ICE protests erupted coast to coast over the weekend as Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramped up its immigration raids in Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago.

Twenty-seven arrests were reported overnight in Los Angeles as President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 members of the National Guard to the city, the first of which arrived in Los Angeles Sunday morning.

Military personnel were seen at the Federal Building in downtown as early as 4 a.m. Sunday. More were deployed to the Hall of Justice, next to City Hall, according to NewsNation affiliate KTLA.

Members of the National Guard faced off with protesters only hours after the federal troops arrived in the city.

A heavy military presence was seen in downtown Los Angeles and tear gas was fired at a growing crowd that gathered outside a federal complex.

101 Freeway takeover

The demonstration against ICE spilled onto the 101 Freeway, with protesters taking over the southbound lanes and police holding the line on the opposite side of the median. Independent journalist Anthony Cabassa told NewsNation that some crowd members on the overpass above were throwing water bottles and other items at police.

“There’s a lot of anarchists, a lot of bad-faith actors, that come to these protests and take advantage of the situation. They vandalize, they break up bricks and throw them at police, and they kind of get the crowd going,” he tells “NewsNation Prime.”

A confrontation broke out in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, as a group of demonstrators shouted insults at members of the guard lined shoulder to shoulder behind plastic riot shields.

On Sunday morning, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the National Guard would “keep peace and allow people to be able to protest but also to keep law and order.”

KTLA also reported that ICE raids could last up to 30 days. Democratic Rep. Nanette Barragán said she has been told to prepare for a large presence of ICE officers in her district in California.

As of Sunday night, the Los Angeles Police Department said two officers were injured as two motorcyclists attempted to breach a skirmish line.

Video also shows protestors walking onto the 101 freeway, blocking southbound lanes and stopping northbound lanes.

Newsom requests NG withdrawal

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom formally requested that the Trump administration rescind its deployment of the National Guard on Sunday night.

“I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles county and return them to my command,” Newsom said in a statement.

“We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed. Rescind the order. Return control to California.”

Trump, Homan on law and order

President Trump spoke to reporters from the tarmac at Morristown Municipal Airport on Sunday, suggesting that California officials may face legal consequences if they aid illegal activity.

“Nobody’s gonna spit on our police officers. Nobody’s gonna spit or our military, which they do is the common thing they get up to them, this far away and then they started spitting in their face,” he added.

Border czar Tom Homan on Sunday also warned California officials could face arrest and prosecution if they “cross the line” following President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles to quell ongoing immigration protests.

“It’s a felony to knowingly conceal and harbor an illegal alien,” Homan said. “It’s a felony to impede law enforcement from doing their job,” Homan told NBC News’s Jacob Soboroff.

“What we’re saying is we’re not going to tolerate people attacking our officers,” he added.

President Trump told Democratic California Gov. Newsom during a phone call Friday to “get police in gear because things were getting out of control,” according to two White House officials.

Gov. Newsom said on X Sunday afternoon: “Don’t give Trump what he wants. Stay calm. Stay Peaceful.”

Hegseth: US Marines on high alert

A protest unfolded Sunday afternoon outside the Main Gate of Camp Pendleton, where demonstrators gathered to denounce the use of the military against protesters in Los Angeles, according to NewsNation affiliate KSWB.

Demonstrators held signs reading “Protest is Patriotic,” “Support Our Troops,” and “Save Democracy.

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on the social media platform X that active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton were on high alert and would be mobilized “if violence continues.”

President Trump told reporters on Sunday that he’s heading to Camp David to meet with military leaders, among others.

During a gaggle before boarding Air Force One, Trump would not rule out invoking the Insurrection Act, which could allow the military to be deployed domestically, but suggested the protests against immigration raids were not yet an insurrection. 

Los Angeles protests: Bystander describes scene as ‘war zone’

L.A. was the epicenter of the protests Saturday evening, where several people were arrested.

As ICE conducted a raid at a Home Depot in Paramount, a city with a high Latino population south of L.A., the immigrant community sounded the alarm through social media, and soon hundreds of protesters gathered.

Demonstrators clashed with officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Some protesters set small fires and threw bottles and rocks toward police officers, who responded with tear gas and pepper spray. A bystander described the scene to NewsNation as a “war zone.”

The group, many carrying Mexican flags, did not disperse despite multiple warnings from law enforcement that it was an unlawful assembly and could face arrests.

Newsom called Trump’s move to deploy the National Guard “purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”

“LA authorities are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment’s notice. We are in close coordination with the city and county, and there is currently no unmet need,” Newsom wrote on X. “The Guard has been admirably serving LA throughout recovery. This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust.”

On Sunday, Newsom said on X that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard was “to manufacture a crisis.”

“He’s hoping for chaos so he can justify more crackdowns, more fear, more control. Stay calm. Never use violence. Stay peaceful,” Newsom added.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also released a statement saying, “Deploying federalized troops on the heels of these raids is a chaotic escalation.

“The fear people are feeling in our city right now is very real – it’s felt in our communities and within our families and it puts our neighborhoods at risk. This is the last thing that our city needs, and I urge protestors to remain peaceful.

“I’ve been in touch this morning with immigrant rights leaders as well as local law enforcement officials. Los Angeles will always stand with everyone who calls our city home.”

As a former police chief in a large metropolitan city, Detroit’s Ralph Godbee analyzed whether the decision could escalate the conflict between protesters and ICE agents.

He said the local police’s first responsibility is to preserve a person’s or group’s right to protest peacefully and to restore peace if it is not peaceful. If there is a need to escalate, he said state police will step in.

“Then, you have your federal partners, and as a very last resort, you would have the National Guard. But when the president, or any administration, take Trump out of it, makes that determination … is unfortunately it could be a tragedy waiting to happen without proper coordination,” Godbee told NewsNation’s “Morning in America with Hena Doba” Sunday morning.

Godbee said that upholding the relationship between local law enforcement and the community is important to maintain peaceful interactions in situations like this.

“When you have federal intervention, they have a different level of responsibility to the local community, so as a local police chief, I have to make decisions because, at the end of the day, when the feds pull out, you still have to police your areas, and you have to have a relationship with that community,” he said.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem double-downed on ICE’s efforts, writing on X Saturday, “A message to the LA rioters: you will not stop us or slow us down. … If you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

New York City protests: Quicker response than L.A.

Some 150 protesters gathered outside of a federal building at Federal Plaza in New York City Saturday, aiming to block federal authorities from conducting immigration raids. 

The protests began peacefully but quickly escalated, and nearly two dozen people were arrested and detained. 

Part of growing unrest over increased immigration enforcement nationwide, the NYC protest erupted the day after ICE arrested a migrant inside a federal courthouse in New York City. 

Officials detained the man on Friday, immediately after his immigration case was dismissed. Department of Homeland Security said he was in the country illegally from the Dominican Republic. 

Though not on camera, ICE and DHS have said the man was resisting arrest and claimed that he punched an officer.

In a bit of a dig at L.A. officials, DHS praised New York authorities for their quick response, posting to X: “Thankfully, unlike in Los Angeles, the local police department quickly responded to the riots.” 

DHS also reiterated one of Noem’s previous X posts, emphasizing arrest and prosecution. 

Secretary Noem’s message to rioters is clear: you will not stop us or slow us down. ICE will continue to enforce the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” 

People on social media have called for another day of protest. 

Part of the street where the protest occurred is blocked off, likely in anticipation of more protests. 

NewsNation reached out to NYPD for comment.

Chicago protests: ‘Replicating’ George Floyd riots

Chicago has also been dealing with its own immigration protests. 

Last week, ICE detained a mother at an immigration office. Family members claimed that they received a text message instructing them to report for a check in where they were ultimately detained. 

Alderman Raymond Lopez representing Chicago’s 15th Ward told NewsNation that they are still in ICE custody. 

“What we are seeing now is the implementation of laws that exist for the federal government to secure our borders and work to remove those who are here undocumented…” Lopez said. “If you don’t like that, then protest that. But don’t do that in a way that impedes law enforcement and causes these altercations we’ve seen.”

Lopez compared the L.A. protests to the George Floyd protests in 2020. 

“We do know that many of the professional agitators are now descending into the protests and trying to turn them into riots, trying to turn them into something else because they want to replicate what they saw during the George Floyd murder in the riots of 2020,” Lopez said. “That is not what we need right now.”

NewsNation’s Nancy Loo, NewsNation affiliate KTLA reporter Jennifer McGraw, The Associated Press and The Hill contributed to this report.