Police officers tackle and drag a protestor during a rainy anti-ICE demonstration in New York. Credit – Madison Swart/Hans Lucas—AFP/Getty Images
Anti-ICE demonstrations are expected to spread to more cities this week after days of unrest in Los Angeles, with at least 30 new protests planned across the country in response to the Trump Administration’s recent immigration raids.
Additional protests have already broken out in San Francisco, Sacramento, Houston, San Antonio, Chicago and New York, where activists rallied over the weekend and into Monday in solidarity with demonstrators in Los Angeles. By Monday afternoon, organizers had scheduled demonstrations in nearly every major city, signaling a growing backlash to the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement tactics and its deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles.
Read more: Trump Suggests Arresting Gavin Newsom, Escalating Tensions Over ICE Raids
The protests were sparked by a series of workplace immigration raids last week, and escalated after the arrest of David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) of California, during a demonstration in Los Angeles on Friday. Huerta, a prominent labor and civil rights leader, was taken into federal custody and hospitalized after what ICE described as interference with a federal operation. His arrest has galvanized organized labor, with SEIU chapters announcing nationwide demonstrations in his defense and in protest of what they called a “clear attack on our communities.”
In Los Angeles, the protests have grown larger and more confrontational since Friday. Hundreds of demonstrators marched downtown and clashed with law enforcement. Some protesters set barricades in the streets, vandalized buildings, and hurled objects at law enforcement. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds, and the California Highway Patrol used flash-bang grenades to clear demonstrators after a group blocked traffic.
Read more: Can the President Activate a State’s National Guard?
At least 150 people have been arrested in Los Angeles since the protests began, and city officials warned that further disruptions could continue throughout the week. Trump authorized the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to the city over the weekend, bypassing California Governor Gavin Newsom, who called the move “a violation of state sovereignty” and signaled plans to challenge the decision in court.
Trump has described protesters as “insurrectionists” and “professional agitators” who “should be in jail.”
A map of anti-ICE demonstrations posted by SEIU showed that events were planned in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Seattle, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Charlotte, Portland, St. Paul, Santa Fe, and more. Additional demonstrations may also take place, though the largest demonstrations remain centered in Los Angeles, where National Guard soldiers in tactical gear continue to patrol areas downtown.
“ICE’s brutal, military-style tactics have no place in our communities,” SEIU wrote in a post on X. “We demand safety. We demand respect. We demand David’s release.”
Write to Nik Popli at [email protected].
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