As protests in Los Angeles over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown prepare to enter their fifth day, demonstrations have sprung up in major cities around the country.
Demonstrations were reported by local news outlets and police departments in at least a dozen cities that included San Francisco, New York, Washington, Boston, Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta in recent days. The protests assembled outside courthouses and local immigration agency offices and in a few instances led to arrests.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is carrying out a directive from President Donald Trump to find immigrants living in the United States without legal status. Protests have sprung up against the sweeps the agency is carrying out in various neighborhoods. Most have remained peaceful, but a few escalated into clashes with police.
The protests in Los Angeles have also ignited a showdown between the federal government and local leaders including California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Trump activated 4,000 National Guard members and hundreds of U.S. Marines despite objections by Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
Anti-ICE protests spread coast-to-coast
Demonstrations across the country cropped up to oppose ICE raids, while others gathered in counties neighboring Los Angeles.
Some of the protests were launched by union members in response to the arrest of David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union California (SEIU), in Los Angeles on June 6. Huerta was arrested and charged with felony conspiracy to impede an officer while protesting, with federal prosecutors saying he impeded agents from accessing a worksite suspected of employing undocumented immigrants by sitting in front of the only entrance.
More than 200 union members and supporters in Boston gathered outside City Hall on June 9, NPR affiliate WBUR reported. In Washington, D.C., hundreds gathered outside the Department of Justice and FBI buildings and marched through the city protesting both ICE raids and Huerta’s arrest, according to WUSA9.
“I’m out here today because I’m angry about what’s going on in our government,” Eileen Duffey, a protester in Philadelphia, told the station WPVI.
Arrests were made at some of the protests. In Dallas, one person was arrested after police declared a demonstration unlawful, CBS News Texas reported. The protest started out peacefully, but later in the evening a firework exploded near police, the outlet said. In Austin, Texas, police fired less-lethal munitions and detained several people as they clashed with a crowd of several hundred protesters.
More than 30 were arrested in New York City on June 9 with more protests expected June 10, ABC 7 reported. Among those arrested in New York were about two dozen arrested from the lobby of Trump Tower, the outlet reported.
Protests turn to clashes with police in Los Angeles
Protests began on June 6 in response to the Trump administration’s crackdown with immigration raids in Southern California. They have been mostly peaceful, and began after ICE sweeps in and around Los Angeles resulted in more than 40 arrests. Tensions flared between protesters and police, turning chaotic and sometimes violent.
Most of the unrest is taking place across a few square miles in a mostly commercial area downtown. On June 9, LAPD said protesters threw objects at officers near the federal courthouse, prompting use of gas canisters and other munitions. Bass said over 100 people were arrested Monday night, blaming “fringe groups” for violence. More protests are expected June 10, the fifth day of demonstrations.
A tense standoff also unfolded between the administration and California authorities, who say the use of the National Guard and U.S. Marines is an unlawful subversion of Newsom’s authority. Bass called Trump’s escalation of military presence a “deliberate attempt to create disorder and chaos in our city.”
Contributing: Thao Nguyen and John Bacon, USA TODAY; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LA protests spark anti-ICE demonstrations across the US
