Live Updates: Bass and Other California Mayors Call for End to Immigration Raids

New York Times

11-06-2025

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Los Angeles 1:58 p.m. June 11
Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles and leaders of more than 30 smaller cities in California called on Wednesday for an end to the federal immigration sweeps that have disrupted cities across the region.
Ms. Bass and the other mayors — of Montebello, Downey and other municipalities — spoke at a news conference after five days of protests sparked by immigration raids and President Trump's deployment of 4,700 National Guard troops and Marines to the Los Angeles area.
'When you raid Home Depots and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you're not trying to keep anyone safe — you're trying to cause fear and panic,' Ms. Bass said, suggesting that the raids were a purposeful provocation by the White House. 'I posit that maybe we are part of a national experiment to determine how far the federal government can go in reaching in and taking over power from a governor, power from a local jurisdiction,' she added.
Ms. Bass's comments came just hours after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate hearing that troops could be sent to other cities 'if there are riots in places where law enforcement officers are threatened.'
In Los Angeles, 700 Marines were receiving training on how to handle civil disturbances and not yet assisting the National Guard troops or federal immigration agents. Under Department of Defense policy, they can detain, but not arrest, people, and then they must hand them over to local officials as soon as possible.
Protests have swept across the Los Angeles area since federal deportation raids there on Friday prompted clashes. As standoffs intensified in Los Angeles, similar demonstrations have cropped up in other cities, and more were expected on Wednesday, including in Raleigh, N.C.; Eugene, Ore., and St. Louis.
At the White House, Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, opened her briefing by attacking Ms. Bass and the state's governor, Gavin Newsom, and insisting that 'left wing riots' would not halt the ICE raids.
Here's what else to know: L.A. curfew: Ms. Bass instituted a curfew late Tuesday and said it would go on 'as long as needed," adding, 'Anybody that's involved in violence or looting or vandalism is not supporting the cause of immigrants.' About 200 people were arrested on charges of failure to disperse after the curfew took effect downtown, according to a statement by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Newsom's speech: The governor made a nationally televised address arguing that the deployment of federal troops was a 'brazen abuse of power' by Mr. Trump and a 'perilous moment' for American democracy. Read the full transcript of his speech ›
Texas protests: Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas plans to deploy National Guard troops across the state to maintain order, becoming the first U.S. governor to do so since the unrest began. The mayor of San Antonio, Ron Nirenberg, criticized the move as 'geared toward theater and provocation.' Read more ›
Court hearing: The Trump administration filed its response on Wednesday to California's request for a temporary restraining order that would limit the National Guard and Marines deployed in Los Angeles to guarding federal buildings. The Justice Department argued that the state's legal objections — including that the guard call-up order did not go through Mr. Newsom — are meritless and there is no basis for such an order. A federal judge in California has set a hearing for Thursday. Law enforcement officers arrested protesters in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Credit... Philip Cheung for The New York Times
More than 700 protesters in at least seven cities have been arrested since Friday in demonstrations against federal immigration raids. Though the encounters have turned tense at times, leaving some protesters and law enforcement officers with injuries, most of the protests have not turned violent and been confined to only small sections of cities.
Here's how many people have been arrested, cited and released nationwide, according to statements from law enforcement officials. More than 380 people have been arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department since the protests began on Friday, with a majority of the arrests happening Tuesday. Over 300 of those arrested faced charges for failure to disperse, though a few are facing more serious charges, including for assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder with a Molotov cocktail. Fourteen protesters faced charges for looting. As of Wednesday, it was not immediately clear how many of the arrested protesters had been released.
At protests throughout the weekend and on Monday, the California Highway Patrol also arrested 19 people and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department arrested seven people , according to representatives for those departments.
Federal authorities arrested an additional nine people protesting workplace raids in Southern California, according to the Justice Department. Among them was David Huerta, a union leader. Six protesters, including Mr. Huerta, were released.
In San Francisco, 154 people were arrested on Sunday. All but one were cited and released, Paul Yep, the city's acting chief of police, said at a news conference. Six of those arrested were juveniles, Mr. Yep said.
In Austin, Texas, at least 12 people were arrested on Monday during a protest that began outside the State Capitol. They faced charges including criminal mischief, resisting arrest, harassment and reckless driving.
In New York City, 86 people were arrested in protests against federal immigration raids on Tuesday night, according to an internal police report. On Monday, three people were arrested and four were issued summonses after blocking traffic outside a federal building in Lower Manhattan. The police said 24 people were issued summonses for a protest at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan.
In Chicago, 17 people were arrested in demonstrations on Tuesday night on charges including aggravated battery, criminal damage to government property, reckless conduct and resisting a police officer.
In Philadelphia, 15 people were arrested during protests on Tuesday, according to the city's Police Department.
In Dallas, one person was arrested during a protest on Monday after hitting a police car, according to the Dallas Police Department.
Protesters also gathered in cities like Boston and Atlanta over the last few days, but it was not immediately clear if any arrests had been made in connection to those demonstrations.
Sonia Rao, Lina Fisher and Chris Hippensteel contributed reporting. Alain Delaquérière contributed research.
June 11, 2025, 4:40 p.m. ET
Georgia's attorney general, Chris Carr, issued a stark warning on Wednesday, a day after demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement in Atlanta. 'All Americans have the right to peacefully protest,' he said in a statement. 'No American has the right to destroy property, loot businesses or attack law enforcement officers.'
'We are not California or New York,' he added. 'We are Georgia. We don't make excuses for criminals here. We prosecute them.'
Carr said that protesters who 'engage in violence to change public policy' could be charged with domestic terrorism. That was a reference a change in 2017 to Georgia's law on demostic terrorism the term's definition to include attempts to seriously harm or kill people or destroy 'critical infrastructure' in order to force a policy change. Other states have acted similarly, leading critics to warn of the danger that activism could be framed as terrorism. June 11, 2025, 3:32 p.m. ET
Lina Fisher Reporting from Austin
Two Democratic congressmen representing Texas, Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar, released a statement on Wednesday denouncing Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to deploy the National Guard in San Antonio and Austin, where protests have also broken out. They said Abbott was 'trying to intimidate our community for rallying against President Trump's authoritarian policies.'
If the governor were 'serious about working with our local authorities, he would have alerted them before making this inflammatory decision,' the congressmen said. 'By needlessly deploying the National Guard, Gov. Abbott is escalating tensions rather than promoting safety and calm.' June 11, 2025, 3:29 p.m. ET
J. David Goodman Houston bureau chief
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas was asked at a news conference in Austin on Wednesday about his plans to use National Guard troops during protests in the state. He responded that he wanted 'to make sure that what has happened in California does not happen in Texas,' saying that 'Texas is a law and order state.'
He said that the Texas National Guard would partner with state police in 'strategic locations' where they could provide 'robust response where needed.' He declined to say how many troops would be deployed or how they would be used, but he said that anyone who damaged property or injured another person would be arrested. June 11, 2025, 3:26 p.m. ET
Mayor Karen Bass has said throughout the news conference in Los Angeles that 'there's no way of knowing' when the federal immigration raids will end. A reporter asked if she believed raids would become a new reality of the Trump administration. 'I am going to continue to advocate on a federal level,' she said, adding that 'we are stuck in this no-man's-land of not having any idea when the policy will end.'
June 11, 2025, 3:17 p.m. ET
Mayor Bass said that an emergency declaration she signed on Tuesday did not have a time limit, and the overnight curfew it stipulated would go on as long as needed. 'It's really kind of dependent on what the response is from the federal side,' she said. 'If there are raids that continue, if there are soldiers marching up and down our street, I would imagine that the curfew will continue.'
She said another indicator for stopping the curfew would be a night with no arrests. June 11, 2025, 3:15 p.m. ET
Taylor Robinson and Sonia A. Rao
Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles repeated her condemnation of those who have been rioting in response to the raids. 'Anybody that's involved in violence or looting or vandalism is not supporting the cause of immigrants,' she said at a City Hall news conference, because their actions could 'trigger an even greater reaction from the administration.'
She also said that local law enforcement, not National Guards forces, had carried out the arrest of those who engaged in violence or violated an overnight curfew. 'They weren't needed for that, they're not needed now,' she said. June 11, 2025, 3:05 p.m. ET
Shawn Hubler Los Angeles bureau chief
Los Angeles is the largest of 88 cities in a county of about 10 million people, nearly half of whom are of Hispanic origin. To the mayors speaking at a news conference with Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, the recent immigration raids, which have so far largely targeted Latinos, are deeply personal.
The speakers include even the mayor of the affluent beach community of Santa Monica, where Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff who has championed the raids, went to high school. Immigrant laborers there are so frightened, she said, that they aren't coming to work. June 11, 2025, 3:03 p.m. ET
'Physically, ICE has not been in the city of Montebello,' said Sal Melendez, that city's mayor, told a news conference in Los Angeles. 'But psychologically, they're there. Our community is in fear. Our community is afraid to go out.' Several mayors standing behind him nodded their agreement.
June 11, 2025, 2:58 p.m. ET
As she took the podium at a news conference in Los Angeles, Mayor Maria Davila of the nearby city of South Gate choked up. 'It is hard for us as elected officials to hear that a person who is representing us up in the federal level is capable of doing such a horrendous — I mean, just unbelievable things to our constituents and our people.' Davila added that she herself was an immigrant. June 11, 2025, 2:58 p.m. ET
Taylor Robinson and Sonia A. Rao
At a news conference in Los Angeles with Mayor Karen Bass, one of the mayors of neighboring cities who joined her was Arturo Flores of Huntington Park, where 95 percent of residents are Hispanic. 'Deploying military forces and conducting militarized ICE raids in immigrant neighborhoods is not about public safety,' Flores said. 'It is about political theater that is rooted in fear. Flores directly addressed the 700 Marines who have been deployed out of Twentynine Palms, saying he was a veteran himself. 'Remember that you are dealing with Americans,' he said. Mayor Daniel Lurie walking through the Tenderloin neighborhood in San Francisco, with William Scott, then the chief of the San Francisco Police Department, on the morning of his inauguration in January. Credit... Loren Elliott for The New York Times
For Mayor Daniel Lurie of San Francisco, there are two words that he dares not mention: Donald Trump.
This week, his refusal held true even after the president sent National Guard troops into Los Angeles and called up the Marines, leaving many San Franciscans to wonder if their liberal California city could be next.
Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, Representative Nancy Pelosi and Gov. Gavin Newsom have each blamed Mr. Trump for causing chaos. Mr. Newsom, in a nationally televised address on Tuesday night, told Americans that Mr. Trump was putting democracy at risk and that they should rise up to stop him.
But Mr. Lurie has staunchly avoided discussing Mr. Trump's actions, even when asked on multiple occasions to respond to the various ways that the president's policies have affected his city. This week, Mr. Lurie instead focused on praising the San Francisco Police Department for the way it handled two protests in the city that were intended to show solidarity with Los Angeles.
Mr. Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, won voter support in November on a promise to improve the daily lives of San Franciscans and avoid ideological disputes. The moderate Democrat, five months into his first-ever elected position, would still rather talk about public safety and trash cleanups.
One protest on Sunday night turned violent when demonstrators clashed with police officers in riot gear, leading to 154 arrests. Another protest on Monday night was far calmer, but a splinter group vandalized buildings and sprayed graffiti, and the police arrested 92 people. Through Monday, more people were arrested in protests in San Francisco than those in Los Angeles, though Los Angeles has since had more. Video
transcript Hundreds of protesters marched through the streets of San Francisco's Mission District on Monday.
[chanting] Get out of the Bay! [chanting] ICE, get out the Bay! [chanting] Get out of the Bay! Hundreds of protesters marched through the streets of San Francisco's Mission District on Monday. Credit Credit... Kellen Browning/The New York Times
Several members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, akin to a City Council, have taken to the streets with demonstrators or given fiery speeches from the steps of City Hall, a show of solidarity with other residents against Mr. Trump's deportations and use of military force in California.
Mr. Lurie, however, spent the protest nights Sunday and Monday huddled with the police chief, fire chief and officials with the Department of Emergency Management in an emergency command center a few blocks from City Hall.
He then called news conferences on Monday and Tuesday to praise his police department, announce city crews were cleaning graffiti from businesses free of charge and reiterate that anyone caught vandalizing property would be arrested.
Mr. Lurie declined to discuss whether he thought the National Guard might come to San Francisco next. He would not say whether he considered Mr. Trump an authoritarian. He would not offer his opinion of the president saying that Mr. Newsom, for whom the mayor's wife has worked as an aide for years, should be arrested.
He answered almost every question with a version of the same answer.
'My message is, we are keeping San Franciscans safe,' Mr. Lurie said. 'We have this under control.'
He spent much of Tuesday's news conference discussing a totally unrelated topic: proposed changes to how long recreational vehicles can be parked on city streets.
Mr. Lurie's colleagues expressed shock that five months into a presidential term that has targeted California in extraordinary ways, the mayor still won't discuss Mr. Trump.
'It is like he who shall not be named,' Supervisor Myrna Melgar said. Her family arrived in California from El Salvador when she was 12 and lived without legal papers until her father obtained citizenship through his work.
Mr. Lurie's effort to revitalize San Francisco after the pandemic relies on the work of undocumented immigrants in hotels, restaurants and construction sites, said Ms. Melgar, who added that the mayor needed to speak out forcefully on their behalf and against the president.
'I have been disappointed that he has been so quiet,' she said. 'We need the kind of leader who steps up to the moment. This is San Francisco, the place that welcomes people from all over, the open, tolerant city.'
Supervisor Jackie Fielder, who represents the Mission District, a heavily Latino neighborhood, said she thought the mayor should condemn the actions of the president and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
She said ICE agents picked up 15 people at a San Francisco immigration office building for check-in appointments last week, one of them a 3-year-old. Agents picked up more people from the immigration courthouse on Tuesday. ICE did not respond to requests for information.
'I don't get it,' she said. 'Most San Franciscans despise Trump.'
At news conferences this week, Mr. Lurie acknowledged the 'fear and anxiety' in the community and said the city's sanctuary policies of not cooperating with federal immigration officials would continue. On Tuesday, he reiterated that on X after the ICE detentions.
But allies of Mr. Lurie said that they understood his strategy. Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, the president of the board, said that San Franciscans are not interested in a war of words between their mayor and the president.
'They want him to do everything he can to protect San Francisco's vulnerable communities,' Mr. Mandelman said.
Nancy Tung, chairwoman of the San Francisco Democratic Party, suggested that ignoring Mr. Trump may even have kept the president's focus away from San Francisco.
'Maybe his reluctance to utter the president's name or denounce him has actually kept the militaristic type of ICE raids out of San Francisco,' she said.
In an interview, Mr. Lurie said that he worked for the residents of San Francisco and understood that some of them were fearful now.
Asked if it was true that he would not say the word Trump, Mr. Lurie gave a tight-lipped smile. He said nothing.
June 11, 2025, 2:41 p.m. ET
Shawn Hubler Los Angeles bureau chief
At a City Hall news conference, Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles and leaders of more than 30 smaller municipalities just called for an end to the federal immigration enforcement actions that have disrupted cities across the region. 'When you raid Home Depots and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you're not trying to keep anyone safe — you're trying to cause fear and panic,' Bass said. June 11, 2025, 2:43 p.m. ET
Bass suggested that the immigration raids might be being used as a deliberate provocation. 'I posit that maybe we are part of a national experiment to determine how far the federal government can go in reaching in and taking over power from a governor, power from a local jurisdiction,' she said, 'and frankly leaving our city and our citizens, our residents, in fear.' June 11, 2025, 2:30 p.m. ET
Shawn Hubler Los Angeles bureau chief
Downtown Los Angeles is all but a ghost town right now, even with the curfew lifted. Near City Hall, members of the carpenters' union are hammering plywood over windows at the request of small businesses worried that rogue protesters will violate tonight's curfew. Credit... Alex Welsh for The New York Times Credit... Alex Welsh for The New York Times June 11, 2025, 2:27 p.m. ET
Charlie Savage National security and legal policy reporter
In a sign of the haste with which the Justice Department drafted the filing, a page labeled 'Table of Contents' is otherwise empty, while one labeled 'Table of Authorities' — where lawyers are supposed to list the court precedents cited in their brief — currently has only the word, '[INSERT],' highlighted in yellow. June 11, 2025, 2:26 p.m. ET
Charlie Savage National security and legal policy reporter
The Justice Department cites Office of Legal Counsel memos from the Vietnam War era, written by the future Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, for the idea that presidents have inherent power to use the military to protect federal buildings and functions against protesters, notwithstanding a 19th century law that generally makes it illegal to use troops for law enforcement.
June 11, 2025, 2:25 p.m. ET
Charlie Savage National security and legal policy reporter
The Trump administration has filed its response to California's request for a temporary restraining order that would limit the National Guard and Marines deployed in Los Angeles to guarding federal buildings. The Justice Department argued that the state's legal objections — including that the guard call-up order did not go through Gov. Gavin Newsom — are meritless and there is no basis for such an order. June 11, 2025, 1:24 p.m. ET
David E. Sanger White House reporter
At a White House news briefing, Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, opened by attacking Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, and insisted 'left wing riots' would not halt the ICE raids. She echoed some of President Trump's comments at Fort Bragg on Tuesday, describing all the protesters as 'left wing radicals.' She said her message was that 'order will be maintained.' Credit... Doug Mills/The New York Times June 11, 2025, 1:16 p.m. ET
Julie Bosman Reporting from Chicago
During protests in Chicago that drew thousands of people on Tuesday, 17 people were arrested, a police spokesman said. The charges included aggravated battery, criminal damage to government property, reckless conduct and resisting a police officer. Ten people were charged with misdemeanors and four with felonies; charges against two people are still pending. One protester was issued a citation for possessing paint with an intention to deface property. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has taken a sharper tone toward President Trump and his administration in a series of online posts and interviews. Credit... Daniel Cole/Reuters
To Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, President Trump's administration is not unlike the evil Galactic Empire in 'Star Wars.'
On Tuesday, the official X account for Mr. Newsom's press office posted a series of TikToks featuring Mr. Trump's social media posts about the Los Angeles protests, with a voice-over meant to resemble Emperor Palpatine, one of the movie franchise's villains, reading Mr. Trump's words as if they were his own. With Darth Vader's ominous 'Imperial March' soundtrack playing in the background and the Empire's storm troopers marching, the implication was clear.
The new line of attack was a sign that Mr. Newsom, an ambitious politician often considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate, is not planning to let his latest feud with Mr. Trump fade easily.
Mr. Newsom is using his social media megaphone — and is clearly relishing his moment in the spotlight and spoiling for a fight — as he rails against Mr. Trump's decision to deploy 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles during tense protests over deportations, and pushes a lawsuit against his actions.
His ire was not reserved for the president. Stephen Miller, the architect of Mr. Trump's immigration policy, was portrayed on the press office account as General Grievous, a vicious 'Star Wars' cyborg, reading one of Mr. Miller's posts in a mechanical voice: 'Our way of life will prevail.'
Critics of Mr. Trump have for years compared him and his policies to the Empire from 'Star Wars,' and Mr. Newsom did not limit himself purely to fictional allegories.
The president, Mr. Newsom said on a podcast, was 'unhinged' and a 'stone cold liar.'
And as for Mr. Miller? 'The Governor's position,' Mr. Newsom's press office posted, 'is that Stephen Miller has no peer when it comes to creating straw man arguments,' using an expletive for emphasis.
Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, responded in kind, suggesting that Mr. Newsom was 'posting like a schoolchild on social media' rather than dealing with the protests.
Mr. Cheung added that Mr. Newsom was 'trying to use this moment to launch what will be a failed presidential campaign.'
The tone is a departure for Mr. Newsom, who was conciliatory toward Republicans after Mr. Trump's victory in November. Setting himself apart from many other Democrats, he said that the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports was 'deeply unfair.' And he invited onto his podcast right-wing figures like Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point influencer, agreeing with him on how Democrats had lost touch with the working class.
Now, his return to an in-your-face, provocative style — sometimes hailed as 'dark woke' — could galvanize Democrats who have been mired in an extended period of soul-searching since their presidential-election loss and criticism over the lack of fight against Mr. Trump.
Tom Homan, Mr. Trump's border czar, told NBC News over the weekend that he would arrest anyone who interfered with immigration enforcement — including Mr. Newsom. That offered the governor an obvious response.
'Come after me. Arrest me,' Mr. Newsom replied in a television interview. 'Let's just get it over with. Tough guy. I don't give a damn.'
Mr. Trump later said he supported the idea of arresting Mr. Newsom, as well.
June 11, 2025, 1:07 p.m. ET
Chelsia Rose Marcius Reporting from New York City
The police in New York City arrested 86 protesters on Tuesday night during an hours-long demonstration against ICE, according to an internal police report obtained by The New York Times. Hundreds of people attended the protest near an ICE facility in downtown Manhattan, the latest in in a series of protests in the city this week. Since Saturday, the police have arrested 115 people protesting ICE. Credit... Victor J. Blue for The New York Times June 11, 2025, 12:49 p.m. ET
The Los Angeles Police Department said on Wednesday that 203 people were arrested for failure to disperse after the overnight curfew began downtown and that 17 others were arrested for curfew violations. In addition, the department said in a statement on social media that three people were arrested for possession of a firearm and another for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. Two officers were injured and received medical treatment, the statement said. June 11, 2025, 12:22 p.m. ET
John Ismay Pentagon reporter
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth twice refused to directly answer when Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, asked whether the deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., was an appropriate response to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Instead, Hegseth responded by saying the deployment of Guard troops to Los Angeles was appropriate in his view. Murphy contrasted Hegseth's apparent reluctance to agree with the deployment of the National Guard to defend democracy with his willingness to deploy the force against people criticizing President Trump in Los Angeles. June 11, 2025, 11:55 a.m. ET
Eric Schmitt National security reporter
Defense Secretary Hegseth told senators at the Appropriations Committee hearing that the same legal authorities the Pentagon used to send nearly 5,000 Marines and National Guard troops to Los Angeles could be employed in other cities 'if there are riots in places where law enforcement officers are threatened.' He added, 'We would have the capability to surge National Guard there, if necessary.' Credit... Kenny Holston/The New York Times
June 11, 2025, 11:45 a.m. ET
Eli Tan Reporting from Los Angeles
The downtown streets are still quiet in Los Angeles, and city workers are cleaning graffiti off several federal buildings. National Guard troops are outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, but there are no protesters, only a gaggle of journalists. Credit... Aude Guerrucci/Reuters
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