Protesters gathered after immigration agents took dozens of people into custody during raids across Los Angeles.
On Friday, ICE agents apprehended dozens of individuals during raids in various locations throughout Los Angeles.
Multiple unmarked military-style vehicles and vans filled with federal agents were seen moving through the city as part of the operation.
Locations targeted by the ICE agents included an apparel store, a Home Depot, and a clothing warehouse in different parts of the city.
Demonstrators gathered outside a jail where some of the detainees were believed to be held, spray-painting anti-ICE messages on the walls of the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles.
LAPD officers, not involved in the immigration raids, were called in to control the unrest, using batons and tear gas when authorities ordered the demonstrators to disperse.
Protesters threw broken concrete towards the LAPD officers, who responded with tear gas and pepper spray.
LAPD spokesperson Drake Madison stated that the gathering was declared an unlawful assembly, making those who failed to leave the area subject to arrest.
The exact number of arrests is currently unknown.
Stoking fear and terror
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass denounced the federal immigration raids as they “sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city”.
Caleb Soto from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network told Al Jazeera that around 70 to 80 people were detained, but only three lawyers were permitted access to the detention center to provide legal advice.
Soto stated that the chaotic nature of the raids in Los Angeles and at various work sites was aimed at instilling fear, in line with the Trump administration’s objectives.
ICE agents conducting the raids did not obtain judicial warrants required under US law, and were targeting work sites with a high concentration of immigrant workers.
Soto described the actions as “pretty unconstitutional” and highlighted the lack of legal access to the detained individuals.
The Los Angeles raids are part of President Donald Trump’s broader immigration crackdown, which includes revoking the temporary legal status of 530,000 people in the US.
Trump has pledged to increase the arrest and deportation of undocumented migrants in record numbers.
In late May, the administration announced plans to revoke the temporary legal status of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans in the country.
