Tear gas and smoke filled the air in the Los Angeles area on Saturday as confrontations between immigration authorities and demonstrators extended into a second day, and top Trump administration officials vowed to prosecute anyone who interferes with enforcement.
U.S. Border Patrol personnel in riot gear and gas masks stood guard outside an industrial park in the city of Paramount, Calif., deploying tear gas as bystanders and protesters gathered on medians and across the street, some jeering at authorities while recording the events on smartphones.
“ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are,” a woman announced through a megaphone, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “You are not welcome here.”
One hand-held sign said, “No Human Being Is Illegal.”
Smoke rose from burning shrubbery and refuse in the street, and demonstrators kicked at a Border Patrol vehicle. A boulevard was closed to traffic as Border Patrol agents circulated through the area.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a message on social media addressing “LA rioters” and warning that interference with immigration enforcement will not be tolerated.
“You will not stop us or slow us down,” Noem said on the X platform. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “will 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.”
Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner and the White House deputy chief of staff, described Saturday’s protests as a “violent insurrection.”
ICE officers executed search warrants at multiple locations on Friday, including outside a clothing warehouse in the fashion district. The action came after a judge found probable cause that the employer was using fictitious documents for some of its workers, according to representatives for Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A tense scene unfolded outside as a crowd tried to block agents from driving away.
Advocates for immigrant rights say people were detained on Friday by immigration authorities outside Home Depot stores and a doughnut shop.
Homeland Security said in a statement that recent ICE operations in the Los Angeles area resulted in the arrest of 118 immigrants.
‘Set them free, let them stay’
Following the arrests on Friday, protesters gathered in the evening outside a federal detention centre in Los Angeles, where lawyers said those arrested had been taken, chanting “Set them free, let them stay!”
Some held signs with anti-ICE slogans, and others scrawled graffiti on the building.
Among those arrested at the protests was David Huerta, regional president of the Service Employees International Union. Justice Department spokesperson Ciaran McEvoy confirmed that Huerta was being held on Saturday at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles ahead of a scheduled Monday court appearance.
It wasn’t clear whether Huerta had legal representation.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for his immediate release. In a social media post, he cited a “disturbing pattern of arresting and detaining American citizens for exercising their right to free speech.”
The immigration arrests come as U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration push to fulfil promises of mass deportations across the country.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the activity was meant to “sow terror” in the nation’s second-largest city.
In a statement on Saturday, ICE acting director Todd Lyons chided Bass for the city’s response to protests.
“Mayor Bass took the side of chaos and lawlessness over law enforcement,” Lyons said in a statement. “Make no mistake, ICE will continue to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and arrest criminal illegal aliens.”
