Curfew declared in Los Angeles amid escalating immigrant protests

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a curfew in the city center on Tuesday evening (June 10) to “prevent looting and vandalism” as immigrant protests entered their fifth day.

The decision came after the Trump administration ordered the deployment of Marines and the California National Guard to the area, despite objections from Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom.

California has filed a lawsuit to overturn this decision and is awaiting a hearing on its request for a restraining order, scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

“If you do not live or work in downtown Los Angeles, stay away from this area,” Bass told reporters, adding that the curfew would cover a one-square-mile (approximately 2.6 square kilometers) area of the city.

The curfew began yesterday at 8:00 PM Pacific Time and lasted until 6:00 AM this morning.

Exceptions to the ban include residents, commuters, and members of the media. Bass stated that the city might reimpose the curfew for the next several nights.

Democrats have consistently argued that the intervention is unnecessary to suppress the largely peaceful protests against federal immigration raids, where the number of demonstrators far exceeds that of local police.

Trump, however, has promised that immigration raids will continue daily in Los Angeles. According to the Associated Press (AP), the guard units dispatched to the area have begun supporting operations to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from protesters.

Meanwhile, a judge has denied California Governor Gavin Newsom’s request to limit President Trump’s deployment of troops to Los Angeles.

Newsom had asked a federal judge early Tuesday to intervene immediately to restrict Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles, requesting an emergency ruling by 1:00 PM that day.

However, US District Judge Charles Breyer granted the Trump administration’s request for more time to respond to Newsom’s motion. The administration has until 11:00 AM today (6:00 PM GMT) to present its arguments.

A spokesperson for Newsom told The Hill, “The court did not deny or rule on the governor’s request for a temporary restraining order. The court set a hearing date for Thursday after the federal government and the state submit additional filings, and we anticipate the court will rule on the temporary restraining order request shortly thereafter.”

On another front, some influential Republican members of Congress are objecting to the Trump administration’s deployment of Marines to the region.

Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, became the first prominent Republican to oppose sending active-duty Marines to Los Angeles.

However, Collins does support using the National Guard to respond to the demonstrations.

The Republican senator from Maine said that sending the National Guard to support state and local authorities is “probably the most sensible” approach amid the fierce protests against mass deportation policies. But Collins specified that she does not approve of Trump’s decision to send the Marines.

“I draw a distinction between the use of the National Guard and the use of the Marines,” Collins told reporters in Congress. “Active-duty forces are generally not involved in domestic law enforcement operations.”

Trump had ordered 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles to support law enforcement during the protests.

Collins told POLITICO that she condemned the “serious” riots in Los Angeles, stating they “deserve a strong response,” and added that local leaders should cooperate with the National Guard.

“There should be an effort to get everyone on the same page to deal with this violence,” Collins said.

Collins’s comments mark the first public break from Republican leadership on Trump’s decision to send the Marines, potentially opening the door for more internal disagreements.

Pentagon officials told the House budget committee on Tuesday that the President’s decision to send troops to Los Angeles would cost $134 million.