What to know about the protests over Trump's immigration crackdown in LA and other cities

LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Donald Trump has thanked an appeals court for temporarily freezing a judge's order that said he could not take control of California's National Guard and deploy its troops to Los Angeles.

Trump this week ordered the deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the second largest U.S. city following protests over his stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws. On Friday, a military commander said about 200 Marines have moved into Los Angeles to protect federal property and personnel.

Police said about 470 protesters in Los Angeles have been detained or arrested since Saturday, and reported a relatively quiet night on the city's streets late Thursday, the third night since the mayor imposed an 8 p.m. curfew.

Most of the sprawling city of 4 million people has been spared any disruption as protests have been concentrated in a few blocks downtown near City Hall and a federal detention center.

The protests intensified after Trump called up the Guard and have spread to other cities nationwide. More are scheduled for Saturday — Trump's 79th birthday — to coincide with a military parade in Washington, D.C., ostensibly to celebrate the Army's 250th anniversary.

Here are some things to know about the protests:

The battle over Trump's plan to have the military control protests in Los Angeles will continue at least until Tuesday.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom had asked a judge to order an emergency stop to Trump’s troop deployment to protect federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents making arrests across Los Angeles. He said the presence of troops at the raids has further inflamed tensions.

The Trump administration called Newsom's lawsuit a “crass political stunt endangering American lives,” and said it was willing to send troops to other cities to assist with immigration enforcement and controlling disturbances, in line with Trump's campaign promises.

On Thursday evening, a federal judge ruled that the president’s Guard deployment in LA was illegal because it violates the Tenth Amendment and exceeds his statutory authority. The judge directed Trump to return control of California’s Guard troops to the state.

The White House called the order “unprecedented” and said it “puts our brave federal officials in danger.”

The federal government immediately appealed, and later Thursday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked that order.

“If I didn’t send the Military into Los Angeles, that city would be burning to the ground right now,” Trump said Friday in a post on his Truth Social platform.

The appeals court said it would hear arguments in the case June 17.

On Friday, Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, commander of Task Force 51 who is overseeing the 4,700 troops deployed to Los Angeles, said the 200 or so Marines already deployed will take over operations at noon local time at the federal building downtown.

Trump’s orders moved thousands of National Guard personnel closer to engaging in law enforcement actions including deportations as the president has promised in his crackdown.

Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, overseeing Trump’s troop deployment, said the 700 Marines deployed to the city were undergoing civil disobedience training in Orange County.

About 500 of the Guard troops deployed to the protests were trained to accompany agents on immigration operations, he said. ICE said some troops were providing security at federal facilities and protecting federal officers.

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed after he interrupted a Los Angeles news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on immigration.

Padilla, a California Democrat, was removed as he tried to shout over Noem.

“I think everybody in America would agree that that was inappropriate,” Noem said.

Newsom called the removal “outrageous, dictatorial and shameful.”

The Department of Homeland Security said Padilla refused to back away, leading agents to think he was dangerous. Despite DHS assertions that Padilla did not identify himself, he is heard saying “I’m Sen. Alex Padilla” as an agent pushes him away.

Noem met with Padilla afterward for 15 minutes.

Protests have been breaking out across the country, driven by anger over Trump’s stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws and ahead of Trump’s military parade on Saturday. A series of “No Kings” protests are also planned for Saturday to counter the parade in the nation's capital.

In Newark, New Jersey, protesters gathered Thursday outside a New Jersey federal immigration detention center, locking arms and pushing against barricades as disorder broke out at Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed facility that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement opened this year.

Los Angeles County presents a ripe target for the immigration raids, as an estimated 10% of its residents aren’t in the country legally.

Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff and chief architect of Trump’s immigration policies, said late last month that ICE should make at least 3,000 arrests a day, nearly five times the norm this year.

Democratic governors called before Congress Thursday vowed to follow the law when it comes to immigration but insisted the White House do the same.

“As we speak, an American city has been militarized over the objections of their governor,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told the House Oversight committee. “This is a flagrant abuse of power and nothing short of an assault on our American values."

Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas; Jake Offenhartz, Krysta Fauria and Dorany Pineda in Los Angeles; Eliott Spagat in San Diego; Jesse Bedayn in Denver; Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta; Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia; and Lolita C. Baldor and Joey Cappelletti in Washington, D.C., contributed.

Law enforcement officers block a road during a protest on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Paramount, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Protesters are loaded onto Los Angeles Police Department buses during a protest on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

A law enforcement officer escorts a woman out of a protest after she was detained on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Los Angeles Metro police on horseback disperse protesters on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Kimberly Hernandez and her sister Jaslyn Hernandez, daughters of a car wash worker, speak during a press conference with families of detained car wash workers, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Culver City, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Jaslyn Hernandez, daughter of a car wash worker, is embraced during a press conference with families of detained car wash workers Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Culver City, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Members of the California National Guard conduct exercises after being deployed to the Los Angeles protests Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Alamitos, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Los Angeles Police Department officers on horseback move through a street during a protest on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A homeless couple wakes up early morning after sleeping in a public park across the Los Angeles Federal building despite the curfew overnight, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

People walk past graffiti from recent protests against federal immigration raids, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

A protester wearing a shirt reading "WHITE MEN for TRUMP" argues with another protester Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A protester is arrested by California Highway Patrol near the federal building in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

U.S. National Guard direct Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo Damian Dovarganes)

U.S. National Guard stand protect buildings Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo Damian Dovarganes)

A man waves a Mexican flag as protesters against U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement raids march through San Francisco's Mission district on Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A person carrying multiple flags walks past a burning car during protests over the Trump administration's immigration raids in Los Angeles, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Demonstrators face off with Los Angeles Police Department officers during a protest in response to a series of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, in Los Angeles, Calif., Monday, June 9, 2025. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Los Angeles police officers with batons and riot gear attempt to move back protesters in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Protesters run to avoid being kettled by police during protests over the Trump administration's immigration raids in Los Angeles, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Fireworks explode during protests over the Trump administration's immigration raids in Los Angeles, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

A protester holds a sign up in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - A protester gestures as tear gas is used near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Protesters confront a line of U.S. National Guard in the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Police patrol the scene after a night of protests in downtown Los Angeles, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Saudi warplanes have reportedly struck on Friday forces in southern Yemen backed by the United Arab Emirates, a separatist leader says.

This comes as a Saudi-led operation attempts to take over camps of the Southern Transitional Council, or STC, in the governorate of Haramout that borders Saudi Arabia.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE rose after the STC moved last month into Yemen’s governorates of Hadramout and Mahra and seized an oil-rich region. The move pushed out forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, a group aligned with the coalition in fighting the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.

Meanwhile, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen accused the head of the STC of blocking a Saudi mediation delegation from landing in the southern city of Aden.

The STC deputy and former Hamdrmout governor, Ahmed bin Breik, said in a statement that the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces advanced toward the camps, but the separatists refused to withdraw, apparently leading to the airstrikes.

Mohamed al-Nakib, spokesperson for the STC-backed Southern Shield Forces, also known as Dera Al-Janoub, said Saudi airstrikes caused fatalities, without providing details. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify that claim.

Al-Nakib also accused Saudi Arabia in a video on X of using “Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda militias” in a "large-scale attack " early Friday that he claimed sepratists were able to repel.

He likened the latest developments to Yemen’s 1994 civil war, “except that this time it is under the cover of Saudi aviation operations.”

Salem al-Khanbashi, the governor of Hadramout who was chosen Friday by Yemen's internationally recognized government to command the Saudi-led forces in the governorate, refuted STC claims, calling them “ridiculous” and showing intentions of escalation instead of a peaceful handover, according Okaz newspaper, which is aligned with the Saudi government.

Earlier on Friday, al-khanbashi called the current operation of retrieving seized areas “peaceful.”

“This operation is not a declaration of war and does not seek escalation,” al-Khanbashi said in a speech aired on state media. “This is a responsible pre-emptive measure to remove weapons and prevent chaos and the camps from being used to undermine the security in Hadramout,” he added.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen demands the withdrawal of STC forces from the two governorates as part of de-escalation efforts. The STC has so far refused to hand over its weapons and camps.

The coalition's spokesperson Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said Friday on X that Saudi-backed naval forces were deployed across the Arabian Sea to carry out inspections and combat smuggling.

In his post on X, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, said the kingdom had tried “all efforts with STC” for weeks "to stop the escalation" and to urge the separatists to leave Hadramout and Mahra, only to be faced with “continued intransigence and rejection from Aidarous al-Zubaidi," the STC head.

Al-Jaber said the latest development was not permitting the Saudi delegation's jet to land in Aden, despite having agreed on its arrival with some STC leaders to find a solution that serves “everyone and the public interest.”

Yemen’s transport ministry, aligned with STC, said Saudi Arabia imposed on Thursday requirements mandating that flights to and from Aden International Airport undergo inspection in Jeddah. The ministry expressed “shock” and denounced the decision. There was no confirmation from Saudi authorities.

ِA spokesperson with the transport ministry told the AP late Thursday that all flights from and to the UAE were suspended until Saudi Arabia reverses these reported measures.

Yemen has been engulfed in a civil war for more than a decade, with the Houthis controlling much of the northern regions, while a Saudi-UAE-backed coalition supports the internationally recognized government in the south. However, the UAE also helps the southern separatists who call for South Yemen to secede once again from Yemen. Those aligned with the council have increasingly flown the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990.

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Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.

Southern Yemen soldiers of Southern Transitional Council (STC) at a check point, in Aden, Yemen, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo)