(NewsNation) — Federal officials carried out more immigration actions in Los Angeles Monday, after a weekend filled with protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Locations included a Home Depot and a construction site.
Also on Monday, the city of Glendale, California, announced it was terminating a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold federal detainees at its police department.
Speaking to reporters, Trump suggested California Gov. Gavin Newsom should be arrested, something Newsom called a step toward authoritarianism.
Trump also declined to answer a question about invoking the Insurrection Act.
LA schools respond to ICE raids
On Monday, officials with the Los Angeles Unified School District held a press conference speaking out against the actions taken by the Trump administration and pledging to protect all students regardless of immigration status.
The district is currently holding graduations, with more than 100 ceremonies set to happen Monday and Tuesday.
Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho announced that it would consider all graduation locations protected sites, noting that many families are afraid to see their child graduate because of their immigration status.
He said perimeters of safety around graduation sites and schools where federal actions are being taken and that families would be allowed to remain inside venues until immigration actions ceased.
Carvalho still recognized that many would be afraid of showing up at schools for graduations or routine events and emphasized that the school stands with all families.
He referred to the clouds over LA as clouds of “injustice” and “intimidation,” affirming the Constitutional right to an education for all students.
NewsNation reporters on the ground described the scene next to LA’s City Hall near the Civic Center as “a mess” in the early hours of Monday morning.
Police declared an “unlawful assembly” in the city late Sunday, and it was unclear how many were arrested. At least two dozen were arrested Saturday.
The 101 Freeway, a key artery into downtown LA, was temporarily blocked off by protesters Sunday, and some employees of nearby businesses were reportedly told not to go to work Monday. Several Waymo robo-taxis were set on fire.
Tensions had escalated Saturday in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids at a Home Depot in the city of Paramount, south of LA.
President Donald Trump deployed hundreds of National Guard members to the area Sunday and said he was prepared to send in the Marines, a move several California officials have slammed as an escalation of chaos.
In addition to the LA Police Department, police from nearby Glendale and Redondo Beach also responded to the scene, where officers used foam batons, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds.
Trump, Gov. Gavin Newsom spar over LA protest response
“I have a little statement. They spit, we hit,” Trump said Sunday in response to the protests. “Nobody’s going to spit on our police officers. Nobody’s going to spit on our military.”
Trump has not ruled out more military involvement in the Los Angeles area and threatened to arrest California officials if they stand in the way.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed back Sunday, challenging the administration to, “Arrest me.”
On Monday morning, the two camps continued to spar on social media. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump stepped in to protect the city.
“Federal law enforcement officers were attacked by violent radicals and illegal criminals waving foreign flags because Governor Newsom was too weak to protect the city,” she wrote.
Newsom said he would sue the administration over its deployment of the National Guard.
“This is exactly what Donald Trump wanted. He flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard,” he said.
Trump deployed the California National Guard without Newsom’s request, the first time a president has sent troops to a state without the governor’s request since the Civil Rights Movement.
Newsom said Trump — not protesters — is escalating the situation.
“Donald Trump has created the conditions you see on your TV tonight. He’s exacerbated the conditions. … He’s putting fuel on this fire ever since he announced he was taking over the National Guard,” Newsom told MSNBC.
Newsom issued a warning to those he called bad actors, saying violent acts would not be tolerated. He also said Trump was using the protests as an “excuse to militarize a city and circumvent democracy.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the Trump administration provoked the chaos with immigration raids and told NewsNation affiliate KTLA she was in contact with border czar Tom Homan.
Protests also broke out in San Francisco late Sunday, following recent demonstrations in Chicago and New York City.
NewsNation’s Ashley Soriano contributed to this report.
