Happy hour patrons blocked unmarked vehicles on aSan Diego street. Crowds massed outsideNew York immigration court. Students walked out of aMassachusetts high school. Labor organizers and others gathered outsideworksite raids in Los Angeles. As PresidentDonald Trumpdelivers on his promise to deport millions of immigrants, the administration's tough, new tactics are increasingly being met with community resistance. TheDepartment of Homeland Securityhas defended its workplace raids and individual arrests as necessary to get the job done. DHS leaders blame Democratic politicians and protesters for what described ‒ before the recent issues in Los Angeles ‒ asa more than 400% increase in assaultson agents. Immigrant advocates say the government's more aggressive tactics have gone too far and when agencies operate "in a rogue fashion," protesters will come out in force. That boiled overon June 7, when protests against heavily armed, masked agents raiding Los Angeles businesses turned violent. Trump deployed the National Guard to quell protests, a dramatic escalation. The tensions in Los Angelesbuilt slowly and then exploded. On Friday, June 6, there were small protests at several job sites where ICE was arresting immigrants. At one of the sites, the president of the Service Employees International Union, David Huerta, was arrested for allegedlyinterfering with federal officers.Police fired tear gas, pepper spray and flash-bang concussion rounds toward the crowd. The next day, larger protests, including members of Huerta's union, began in the town of Paramount, south of Los Angeles, linked to rumors of a possible immigration raid. As the protests grew in the county, whereabout 1 in 3 residents is foreign-born, Trump ordered 2,000 National Guard troops to the region. The move drew condemnation fromstate and local officials, many of whom have long been at odds with the president. They feared the troops would escalate the situation, which had been contained to a few, isolated areas of conflict. By late morning on June 8, with dozens of National Guard troops in place near the Los Angeles federal complex, tensions rose even higher. At one point, a crowd of protesterswalked onto the 101 Freeway, blocking traffic in both directions. Others burned taxis and hurled objects at officers, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. In the early evening, the police departmentdeclared an "unlawful assembly"for the Civic Center area and the historic Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles and cleared the protesters. The area was mostly quiet after about 8 p.m. local time. More protests are planned for June 9 and 10. On May 30, agents in military gear and weapons descended on San Diego's trendy South Park neighborhood. Amid Friday evening dinner parties, officials arrested four workers at a popular Italian restaurant suspected of hiring workers without proper work authorization. The operation came as a result of a 2020 tip, followed by another in January 2025, court records show. A crowd of people poured out from bars and restaurants to stand in front of several unmarked cars near the Buona Forchetta restaurant. "We all felt a collective anger because they're pulling busboys and dishwashers," said José Díaz, who had been at a nearby bar when he heard agents were in the area. "Nobody's committing a crime but going to work." Díaz, 47, went to the street and beganrecording video on his phone. Agents tried to drive cars through the crowd. Then, they threw two flash-bang grenades into the crowd. One, aDefense Technology Low Roll Distraction Device, went off by Díaz's foot. As a former Army captain, Díaz said he had never seen soldiers use such tactics, even overseas. "We had much stricter rules of engagement than these agents had," he said. A group of neighbors from the South Park area of San Diego, California, came together to confront ICE agents who were conducting raids at two popular local restaurants on Friday, May 30. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria condemned the ICE raid, which targeted Buona Forchetta and…pic.twitter.com/GvcS35uwng — ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea)June 5, 2025 Eventually, the agents went backward, exiting the area, as people marched toward them shouting "Shame." On social media, San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Riveracalled the agents "terrorists"for exercising violent tactics. Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff,said on X that politicianslike him are "openly encouraging violence against law enforcement to aid and abet the invasion of America." Elo-Rivera, who represents a nearby district, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been conducting raids in the border city's immigrant neighborhoods. The May 30 action occurred in a gentrified neighborhood that has become more white and monied, he added. "The majority of Americans, and certainly San Diegans, do not want to factor into their dinner plans the possibility of a brigade of armed, masked men dropping into their evening of enjoying spaghetti and pizza," Elo-Rivera said. Across the country, agents in recent weeks have also arrested people as theyappeared in immigration courtor had check-ins with officials. In New York City, protests have erupted outside of immigration court buildings, resulting in scuffles with officials and agents boarding up windows amid arrests. Protests have only grown after ICE detained aBronx high school student, an asylum seeker from Venezuela, who had gone to immigration court in May. Like him,other migrants have been detainedtrying to appear in court or while checking in with immigration officials. The week of June 2, agents lined up inside of courthouse hallways to detain people. Images showed families cuffed and hauled into unmarked cars by agents. "As we continue to see these agencies conduct themselves in a rogue fashion, people are going to continue to step up and fight back," Murad Awawdeh, president of CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, said. "We have to fight for each other. If we don't, then we're going to continue to allow these authoritarian tactics to continue to peek their heads up." In Massachusetts,Milford High School students organized protestsafter agents on May 31 detained a junior, Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, while he was going to volleyball practice. Agents said they meant to target his father but detained Gomes Da Silva, 18, instead. Gomes Da Silva was in the country illegally, having entered the United States on a visa as a young child that has since expired. After their June 1 graduation, Milford students walked from the school to protest outside the town hall. A day later, they walked out of class as they awaited Gomes Da Silva's immigration case. He wasgranted bail on June 5 and released. The student body was visibly upset, Nicholas Molinari, president of the Milford Teachers Association, said in an email. ICE has been present in Milford for several weeks, he added, causing fear in many students who have shared their feelings with teachers. Scuffle between FBI and crowd on lake street. More tear gas out.@SahanJournalpic.twitter.com/09gBvSYnqd — Andrew Hazzard (@ATHazzard)June 3, 2025 On June 3, masked agents in tactical gear and military-style vehicles amassed at a Minneapolis corner in the heart of the city's Latino community. They stood outside a taqueria, where federal agents investigated an incident related to a criminal search warrant for drugs and money laundering, not immigration enforcement,Mayor Jacob Frey later said on Facebook. He said agents made no arrests. In the pouring rain, few officials would respond to residents' questions, said the Rev. Ingrid Rasmussen, lead pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. The incident took place near a grocery store and preschool. In a viral video, Rasmussen questioned Minneapolis Police Chief O'Hara about local law enforcement's cooperation with agents, some of whom donned ICE badges. Local officials have said ICE had no presence in the operation, and local police only assisted in controlling the crowd. In astatement shared to news outlets, ICE celebrated its investigation. The answers to such contradictions have been insufficient and considered gaslighting to many residents, Rasmussen added. "We can do better than this," she said. "I think our imaginations have somehow grown small if we think this is what community safety looks like, what it needs to look like, at this moment in history." Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email atemcuevas1@usatoday.comor on Signal at emcuevas.01. Contributing: Bart Jansen, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Protesters respond to Trump's stepped up immigration raids
