As people continued to be arrested during immigration raids across the country Tuesday, protests that have roiled Los Angeles spread coast to coast, with people taking a stand against the detention and removal of suspected undocumented migrants.
Activists gathered in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and elsewhere, rebuking the Trump administration's tough stance against migrants and its aggressive round-up efforts, which Democratic leaders in California have said has contributed to a sense of fear across communities.
Since Monday, NBC News counted at least 25 rallies and demonstrations coast to coast. Some involved only a few dozen participants, while others attracted thousands.
The protests are taking place as federal immigration raids continued across the nation Tuesday, including a “targeted enforcement operation” in Los Angeles, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as a raid at a meat processing facility in Omaha, Nebraska.
ICE posted a photo to its X account showing a person wearing military fatigues alongside federal agents, one with “DEA” emblazoned on his vest, standing near a handcuffed person, and a military Humvee painted in camouflage parked next to them. The arrest happened in Los Angeles, ICE said.
In Omaha, two businesses were targeted for federal immigration enforcement operations, local officials said. The office of Mayor John Ewing Jr. said 80 people were arrested by federal agents at Glenn Valley Foods and Lala Dairy.
Cellphone video of the scene at Glenn Valley Foods showed agents in green uniforms, camouflage clothing and plainclothes appearing to detain several workers, hands cuffed, inside the facility’s lunch room, where a motto was painted on a wall: “Together we achieve more.”
Chad Hartmann, a spokesperson for Glenn Valley Foods, said in a statement that federal agents searched the company’s facility “for persons believed to be using fraudulent documents to gain employment.”
He said the company strives to operate within the law, is cooperating with agents and “is not being charged with any crime.”
California and the West Coast
An estimated 700 Marines and more than 2,000 National Guard troops were authorized for deployment to Los Angeles by President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, a move California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass have sharply criticized as unnecessary.
“This is not an insurrection,” Bass said during an interview Tuesday.
The mayor announced that a curfew will be enforced in a 1-square-mile of downtown from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday in an attempt to prevent vandalism and looting. She emphasized the curfew area, where people will be subject to arrest, is a small fraction of the city’s nearly 500 square mile landscape. “This is not citywide civil unrest,” she said, describing the protests.
The Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday said officers under its command, along with partner agencies, have arrested 163 people in connection with the protests since Saturday. During that time, seven officers have been injured, at least five with minor ailments and two who were hospitalized and released, the department said.
California Highway Patrol Assistant Chief Kyle Foster said Tuesday that 67 people who protested on the 101 Freeway in downtown L.A. over the weekend, shutting it down for hours, were arrested for alleged failure to disperse.
The Trump administration-ordered Marines could be used to provide security and transportation for ICE personnel as they continue to arrest immigrants, according to two sources familiar with the plans. This includes driving ICE agents in military vehicles to arrest locations.
“All we want is safety,” the president said Tuesday.
The Marines are expected to begin “conducting operations” by Wednesday, a spokesperson for U.S. Northern Command said via email Tuesday.
Under federal law, National Guard troops and U.S. Marines are generally prohibited from making arrests unless the president declares an insurrection is underway.
However, Newsom said Tuesday that the Trump administration has federalized troops and directed members of the National Guard to participate in law enforcement, including arrests, contrary to federal law that would require the governor’s approval for such an expansion of duties.
The state filed an emergency request for a temporary restraining order Tuesday that seeks to block this expansion of troops’ authority in L.A. It was added to the state’s lawsuit that seeks to reverse troop deployment in California, arguing it’s an unlawful power grab by Trump.
California House Democrats hosted a Tuesday news conference to discuss ICE arrests and the deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles. Rep. Nanette Barragán, who represents the city of Paramount, where a demonstration took place over the weekend, said protests were already under control when National Guard members arrived.
“The sheriff’s department in Paramount got it under control,” Barragán said. “Overnight in Los Angeles, the LAPD got it under control as well and cleared out the situation. And then all of a sudden, the National Guard showed up. We know this is intended to create chaos, to escalate the tensions.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi framed the ICE protests in relation to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. She said Trump would not send in the National Guard even when she and other lawmakers “begged” him to, but activated the Guard in California without any prompting.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said the National Guard’s role, along with the Marines’, is protecting federal employees and facilities, not aiding in protest response.
“The anxiety level is higher, probably because they’re here, and the uncertainty of why they’re here,” he said. “But they’re not, they’re not with us doing the job that we’re doing.”
On Monday, he said in a statement that he was not notified of the Marine deployment and urged federal officials to coordinate with him and other local law enforcement officials.
“The arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles — absent clear coordination — presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city,” he said, urging communication between agencies.
Mayor Bass has stressed that the troops are not necessary in Los Angeles. She also criticized comments from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who called Bass “a train wreck of a mayor," as well as "border czar" Tom Homan, who said she and Newsom could be arrested if they impedes law enforcement.
“The White House instigated this by having ICE raids in our city,” Bass said. “They are telling us that they’re going to have raids for the next 30 days.”
Protesters gathered around 2 p.m. local time Tuesday near Alameda Street in Los Angeles. Video shot by NBC News showed law enforcement arriving on the scene, including the U.S. Marshals Service.
Protests also took place across the Portland, Oregon, metro area, as well as in Seattle and Las Vegas.
In Seattle, about 50 people gathered outside a federal immigration court on Tuesday to decry the raids, according to NBC affiliate KING of Seattle. One of the protesters, Mathieu Chabaud, of Students for a Democratic Society, said: "We’re opposed to ICE in our community.”
In Las Vegas, roughly two dozen people gathered outside the Federal Tower downtown, where ICE has offices, to register their disapproval with the immigration enforcement efforts.
NBC affiliate KSNV of Las Vegas reported that organizers of the protest met beforehand with members of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to ensure ground rules were clear and arrests could be avoided where possible.
New York and the East Coast
At least nine people were taken into custody in New York after a tense standoff at a rally Monday, according to NBC New York.
The event targeted ICE raids and the travel ban imposed on 12 countries worldwide this week, with restrictions on people from seven more countries.
Protesters also gathered in Boston, Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia.
Texas, the South and the Midwest
More than a dozen protesters were arrested in Austin, Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott said on X early Tuesday.
"Peaceful protesting is legal. But once you cross the line, you will be arrested. FAFO," Abbott wrote on X.
Austin police said protesters on Monday night marched from the Texas Capitol to the JJ Pickle Federal Building, near where four officers were injured as some threw rocks their way, according to a statement. Officers retreated before using less-lethal rounds and "gas" to get an upper hand and disperse crowds, the department said.
Among allegations for those arrested in Austin, police said, were rioting, criminal mischief and harassment of a public servant, the department said.
The Daily Texan reported that nearly 500 gathered at the Texas Capitol on Monday, while hundreds gathered in San Antonio, according to Spectrum News 1.
At least one person was arrested Monday in Dallas, police said, with charges pending, as protesters and law enforcement met in a standoff that shut down a busy intersection.
Rallies and demonstrations also took place in Charlotte, Atlanta, Louisville, Memphis, Chicago, Detroit and Oklahoma City.
Rallies were also planned for Tuesday, including in Columbus, Ohio, Chicago and Atlanta.
Noem signaled on Tuesday that she would continue the agency’s program of raids and deportations despite the widespread protests.
"ICE will continue to enforce the law," she said.
