WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senior White House aide Stephen Miller on Saturday condemned protests in downtown Los Angeles against federal immigration raids as an “insurrection” against the United States.
Helmeted police in riot gear engaged in a tense confrontation with protesters on Friday night after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted enforcement operations in the city and arrested at least 44 people on immigration violations.
“An insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States,” Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, wrote on X.
Miller, an immigration hardliner, was responding to video footage on X showing a large number of people protesting in downtown Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said it had not made any arrests related to the demonstration.
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino posted on X that they were reviewing evidence from the protests.
“We are working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice,” Bongino said. “The Right to assemble and protest does not include a license to attack law enforcement officers, or to impede and obstruct our lawful immigration operations.”
President Donald Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the U.S.-Mexico border, with the White House setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day.
But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also included people legally residing in the country, including some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges.
Television news footage earlier on Friday showed caravans of unmarked military-style vehicles and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation.
“Forty-four people (were arrested) on immigration charges,” Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, a spokesperson for Homeland Security Investigations told Reuters on Saturday.
The LAPD did not take part in the immigration enforcement. It was deployed to quell civil unrest after crowds protesting the deportation raids spray-painted anti-ICE slogans on the walls of a federal court building and gathered outside a nearby jail where some of the detainees were reportedly being held.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in a statement condemned the immigration raids.
“I am deeply angered by what has taken place,” Bass said. “These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. We will not stand for this.”
(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; editing by Diane Craft)
