Trump sends troops to Los Angeles

Opération massive de ICE, résistance et déploiement de la garde nationale

By Louve Rose

For several months now, operations by the U.S. Federal Immigration Control Agency (ICE) have been taking on an inordinate scale. In addition to their sheer number, violence and total lack of respect for rights during these operations, their increasingly militarized nature is causing quite a stir. In response to this intensification, popular mobilizations have blocked ICE raids in various cities, including Minneapolis. But it was in LA that we saw the most intense response, with a large-scale mobilization last Friday, June 6, 2025. Demonstrators repeatedly beat back the police thanks to the intensity of their offensive and their numbers.

Faced with the situation, and bypassing the will of Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, and Karen Bass, Mayor of Los Angeles , Trump decided, on Saturday June 7, to demand the deployment of 2,000 National Guard soldiers against the protesters. It's a significant decision, reflecting the government's fear of losing face and control if its deportation operations continue to be so bravely blocked by the public.

Far from being new, these raids are part and parcel of the agency's operations and always loom as a threat over the heads of American immigrants. Recently, under pressure from the Trump administration (for whom ICE has always been the most loyal agency), these raids have multiplied and begun to violate fundamental American rights in the eyes of all, while increasingly taking on the appearance of military operations. This comes as no surprise, given that Trump also uses this agency as a political police force to attack activists who oppose the government (witness the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil). Symptomatic of America's (and the world's) fascist drift, ICE operations in historically racialized neighbourhoods in certain cities have the nauseating allure of a sweep. On several occasions, targeted individuals have also been arrested in courthouses or other places where the agency had no right to operate. Sometimes, the arrests took place even though judges had previously rejected efforts to deport the targeted individuals.

The agency has largely succeeded in maintaining its operations in the face of purely symbolic opposition from Democrats and supposed guardians of democracy. California has been a “sanctuary state” since 2017, i.e. a state that refuses to deport undocumented migrants and collaborate with ICE . Clearly, the latter, with the support of the federal government, has demonstrated that it has no need to pay attention to the decisions of the states in their approach.

For a while, therefore, it seemed as if nothing would stop the wave of operations and deportations carried out by the US government. Now, however, the mobilizations are threatening to escalate into an insurrection, and the popular movement seems determined to prevent the abduction of hundreds of people targeted because of their origins. 

Demonstrations in Los Angeles took an impressive turn on June 8. Independent sources estimate that up to 10,000 people took to the streets of the Californian city. Videos circulating online show torched cars, clashes with police and the blocking of a city freeway. These images increasingly resemble those that emerged from Minneapolis in the early days of the 2020 uprising. Far from calming things down, the military escalation coming from the White House has set things on fire. We can expect these mobilizations to spread to other cities targeted by the agency's operations. It remains to be seen whether the protest movement will sustain itself over time and exert sufficient pressure to force the immigration control agency to end its current wave of raids against the population.

Not just an American issue

If passed, Carney's new bill, entitled “The Strong Borders Act”, would bring us dangerously close to the American situation. The bill would strip immigrants of many of their rights, and give federal agencies more repressive powers in their treatment of immigrants. Such an approach to immigration can only lead to a fascist drift and a strengthening of the police state in so-called Canada. Here too, the issue of migrants is transformed into a political issue in which migrants are dehumanized. Here too, a strong popular mobilization will be necessary if we don't want to face a similar situation in a few years' time.