Tensions still increased throughout the United States on Wednesday as cities braced for another round of protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and recent deployment of federal agents to Los Angeles. Areas of LA were still under curfew after five days of mayhem instigated by wholesale immigration raids.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott deployed the National Guard prior to scheduled demonstrations, while already occurring were demonstrations in large cities such as New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and Austin. Even greater outpourings of protests are planned across the country Saturday, which is also President Trump’s 79th birthday and a military parade in Washington, DC celebrating the US Army’s 250th anniversary.
Trump sending Marines and National Guard soldiers to Los Angeles has ignited outrage across the country and a lawsuit from California Governor Gavin Newsom. The president was accused of fanning the flames of chaos and sued by Newsom, who sought to enjoin the deployment as an unjustified federal power grab.
Around 700 Marines and 4,000 National Guard personnel are currently deployed close to Los Angeles, tasked with guarding government properties, but they do not have arrest power. Yet photographs taken and shared by ICE revealed federal troops joining agents in raids, stirring legal alarms under the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta cautioned that such conduct blurs the lines between law enforcement and military support. At the same time, Homeland Security announced a significant increase in immigration arrests, including 75–80 detainees at a raid on a Nebraska meatpacking facility.
With broad criticism, Trump had justified the military action in a Fort Bragg speech, promising to “liberate Los Angeles” and shut down what he referred to as an “invasion.” As protests intensify and opposition widens, the administration seems determined to ratchet up its hardline immigration policy.
