In Los Angeles, protesters briefly closed the 101 Freeway, and in Chicago, masses made their way through downtown's central Loop district, briefly occupying major thoroughfares.
Police helicopters flew overhead as marchers passed by stopped buses, including one Chicago Transit Authority bus spray-painted with anti-ICE and anti-police rhetoric. The Chicago Tribune reported that no arrests were made immediately.
Similar protests were held in New York City, with demonstrators marching through Lower Manhattan outside the federal immigration offices. In Atlanta, some 1,000 protesters massed along Buford Highway, with several hundred moving ahead into Doraville, where they engaged in a tense standoff with police.
Protests also broke out in other cities, such as San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Washington, DC. The degree of police activity varied by location, as did the general size of the protests.
According to NBC News, several arrests were reported in both New York and San Francisco, but activities in Houston and San Antonio were generally peaceful.
In Austin, police officers warned drivers about massive crowds protesting in support of the Los Angeles demonstrations.
These countrywide demonstrations have followed an intensifying legal and political fight in California, which has focused on the deployment of military troops for immigration enforcement.
Addressing Fort Bragg during a ceremony honoring the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary, President Donald Trump labelled the Los Angeles protesters as "animals" and "a foreign enemy." President Trump put the situation in an "invasion" context to justify deploying about 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines to the city. Trump vowed to "liberate" Los Angeles and restore it to being "free, clean, and safe." Trump also hinted at using the Insurrection Act and warned that any disruption of an upcoming military parade in Washington, DC would be answered with "very big force.
In rapid opposition, California Governor Gavin Newsom brought an emergency lawsuit before the federal court to stop the military deployment. According to him, the action was a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act and the Tenth Amendment, holding it as unconstitutional and a violation of state sovereignty.
In support of the lawsuit, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass implemented a downtown curfew, which runs from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., and threatened to arrest anyone who broke it.
The Pentagon confirmed the mission, which covers the protection of federal property and support to ICE operations, is likely to last for 60 days with an estimated cost of $134 million to support equipment, personnel, and logistics. As per Xinhua news agency, some National Guard units were deployed within hours of the initial demonstrations that saw freeway blockades and destruction of property in downtown Los Angeles.
This continued confrontation has set off wider arguments across the country about the militarisation of police in the United States. It focuses attention on increasing tensions between federal authority and state governments, and puts increased emphasis on constitutional limits on immigration enforcement.
A California federal judge has set a Thursday afternoon hearing to hear the state's request to limit the use of military troops by the federal government in the ongoing operations.
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