Los Angeles protests follow weeks of intensifying immigration enforcement

The Pentagon's deployment of about 700 Marines to Los Angeles to join the National Guard's response to immigration protests follows weeks of rapid-fire developments as President Donald Trump pursues his top domestic priority for mass deportations.

Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff and chief architect of Trump's immigration policies, said late last month that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement should make at least 3,000 arrests a day. That would mark a dramatic increase from Jan. 20 to May 19, when the agency made an average of 656 arrests a day.

Miller's target has brought new strains on immigration detention and increased ICE's presence to a level with no recent parallels.

Tensions soared in Los Angeles after a series of sweeps starting last week, including in the city's fashion district and a Home Depot, pushed the tally of immigrant arrests in the city past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement. Trump sent the National Guard and Marines over objections of state officials.

But even before Los Angeles, ICE stepped up its presence with rare shows of force featuring officers in heavy tactical gear firing flash bangs. Officers engaged in a tense standoff at a popular Italian restaurant in San Diego's trendy South Park neighborhood on May 30 in an operation that resulted in four immigration arrests.

In Massachusetts, a high school student was arrested on May 31 on the way to volleyball practice. Asked why ICE detained an 18-year-old with no criminal record, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons answered, “I didn’t say he was dangerous. I said he’s in this country illegally and we’re not going to walk away from anybody.”

ICE has also worked with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, which conducted nearly 600 traffic stops and arrested about 200 people in recent weeks.

With no additional funding and limited staff, ICE is drawing from other federal agencies and local police to carry out deportations. The number of 287(g) agreements to deputize local police to enforce federal immigration laws has more than quadrupled — to about 650 — since Trump took office in January.

ICE also lacks the detention space to carry out Trump's agenda, leading to overcrowding in some locations. The agency is budgeted to detain about 41,000 people but held more than 53,500 at the end of May, approaching the all-time highs of 2019.

A massive spending bill winding through Congress calls for $45 billion to go toward increasing immigration detention capacity to 100,000 and $8 billion to add 10,000 ICE personnel.

The Los Angeles arrests have created an opening for Trump to tie into one of his favorite targets: state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. California limits cooperation except when people in the country illegally are convicted of serious crimes.

The White House recently published a list of more than 500 “sanctuary” jurisdictions but removed it from its website after widespread criticism that it was inaccurate, including from allies like Huntington Beach, California.

The volume of immigration policy changes has not slowed since Trump took office, reaching a breakneck pace in recent weeks.

On Friday, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man mistakenly deported and imprisoned without communication, was returned to the United States to face criminal charges related to human smuggling.

People showing up for hearings to pursue legal status at immigration courtrooms have been met with a spate of arrests across the country. And a travel ban and restrictions on 19 countries took effect Monday.

A Dominican man, left, and an activist, right, are detained by plain clothes officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement after an immigration hearing at the immigration court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York, Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - Protesters against U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement raids pass diners while marching through San Francisco's Mission district on Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Protesters cheer from pedestal of a statue during a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Trump administration at Metro Hall, Monday, June 9, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

FILE - A protester is detained in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)

A protester taunts a line of California National Guard protecting a federal building in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Police use pepper spray as they move protesters away from a van leaving the Federal Building in Santa Ana, Calif., on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register via AP)

PARIS (AP) — A Paris court is to rule on Monday in a case involving 10 people accused of cyberbullying French first lady Brigitte Macron by spreading false online claims about her gender and sexuality, allegations her daughter said damaged her health and family life.

The defendants, eight men and two women aged 41 to 60, are accused of posting “numerous malicious comments” falsely claiming that President Emmanuel Macron ’s wife was born a man and linking the 24-year age gap with her husband to pedophilia. Some of the posts were viewed tens of thousands of times.

Brigitte Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October.

Her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, testified about what she described as the “deterioration” of her mother’s life since the online harassment intensified. “She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her,” Auzière told the court. She said the impact has extended to the entire family, including Macron’s grandchildren.

Defendant Delphine Jegousse, 51, who is known as Amandine Roy and describes herself as a medium and an author, is considered as having played a major role in spreading the rumor after she released a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021.

The X account of Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, 41, known as Zoé Sagan on social media, was suspended in 2024 after his name was cited in several judicial investigations.

Other defendants include an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist. Several told the court their comments were intended as humor or satire and said they did not understand why they were being prosecuted. They face up to two years in prison if convicted.

The case follows years of conspiracy theories falsely alleging that Brigitte Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is actually the name of her brother. The Macrons have also filed a defamation suit in the United States against conservative influencer Candace Owens.

The Macrons, who have been married since 2007, first met at the high school where he was a student and she was a teacher. Brigitte Macron, 24 years her husband’s senior, was then called Brigitte Auzière, a married mother of three.

Emmanuel Macron, 48, has been France’s president since 2017.

FILE - French President's wife Brigitte Macron arrives ahead of the ceremony outside "La Belle Equipe" bar, Thursday Nov. 13, 2025 in Paris as part of ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of terrorist attacks. (Ludovic Marin, Pool photo via AP, File)