Homeland Security secretary pledges to carry on with Trump’s immigration crackdown

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged Thursday to carry on with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown despite waves of unrest across the U.S.

Hours later a judge directed the president to return control to California over National Guard troops he deployed after protests erupted over the immigration crackdown, but an appeals court quickly put the brakes on that and temporarily blocked the order that was to go into effect on Friday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled a hearing on the matter for Tuesday.

The federal judge's temporary restraining order said the Guard deployment was illegal and both violated the Tenth Amendment and exceeded President Donald Trump's statutory authority. The order applied only to the National Guard troops and not Marines who were also deployed to the LA protests. The judge said he would not rule on the Marines because they were not out on the streets yet.

Gov. Gavin Newsom who had asked the judge for an emergency stop to troops helping carry out immigration raids, had praised the order before it was blocked saying “today was really about a test of democracy, and today we passed the test" and had said he would be redeploying Guard soldiers to “what they were doing before Donald Trump commandeered them.”

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the president acted within his powers and that the federal judge's order “puts our brave federal officials in danger. The district court has no authority to usurp the President’s authority as Commander in Chief."

The developments unfolded as protests continued in cities nationwide and the country braced for major demonstrations against Trump over the weekend.

Noem said the immigration raids that fueled the protests would move forward and agents have thousands of targets.

“This is only going to continue until we have peace on the streets of Los Angeles,” she said during a news conference that was interrupted by shouting from U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who was forcibly removed from the event.

Newsom has warned that the military intervention is part of a broader effort by Trump to overturn norms at the heart of the nation’s democracy. He also said sending Guard troops on the raids has further inflamed tensions in LA.

So far the protests have been centered mostly in downtown near City Hall and a federal detention center where some immigrants are being held. Much of the sprawling city has been spared from the protests.

On the third night of an 8 p.m. curfew, Los Angeles police arrested several demonstrators who refused orders to leave a street downtown. Earlier in the night, officers with the Department of Homeland Security deployed flash bangs to disperse a crowd that had gathered near the jail, sending protesters sprinting away.

Those incidents were outliers. As with the past two nights, the hours-long demonstrations remained peaceful and upbeat, drawing a few hundred attendees who marched through downtown chanting, dancing and poking fun at the Trump administration’s characterization of the city as a “war zone.”

Elsewhere, demonstrations have picked up across the U.S., emerging in more than a dozen major cities. Some have led to clashes with police and hundreds have been arrested.

The immigration agents conducting the raids in LA are “putting together a model and a blueprint” for other communities, Noem said.

She pledged that federal authorities “are not going away” even though, she said, officers have been hit with rocks and bricks and assaulted. She said people with criminal records who are in the country illegally and violent protesters will “face consequences.”

“Just because you think you’re here as a citizen, or because you’re a member of a certain group or you’re not a citizen, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to be protected and not face consequences from the laws that this country stands for," she said.

Noem criticized the Padilla's interruption, calling it "inappropriate.” A statement from her agency said the two met after the news conference for about 15 minutes, but it also chided him for “disrespectful political theater.”

Padilla said later that he was demanding answers about the “increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions” and only wanted to ask Noem a question. He said he was handcuffed but not arrested.

“If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, I can only imagine what they are doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers throughout the Los Angeles community,” he said.

The administration has said it is willing to send troops to other cities to assist with immigration enforcement and controlling disturbances — in line with what Trump promised during last year’s campaign.

Some 2,000 Guard soldiers were in the nation's second-largest city and were soon to be joined by 2,000 more, along with about 700 Marines, said Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, who is in charge of the operation.

About 500 of the Guard troops deployed to the Los Angeles protests have been trained to accompany agents on immigration operations, Sherman said Wednesday. The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers, but any arrests must be made by law enforcement.

With more demonstrations expected over the weekend, and the possibility that Trump could send troops to other states for immigration enforcement, governors are weighing what to do.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has put 5,000 National Guard members on standby in cities where demonstrations are planned. In other Republican-controlled states, governors have not said when or how they may deploy troops.

A group of Democratic governors earlier signed a statement this week calling Trump’s deployments “an alarming abuse of power.”

There have been about 470 arrests since Saturday, the vast majority of which were for failing to leave the area at the request of law enforcement, according to the police department.

There have been a handful of more serious charges, including for assault against officers and for possession of a Molotov cocktail and a gun. Nine officers have been hurt, mostly with minor injuries.

Rodriguez reported from San Francisco and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Julie Watson in San Diego, Jesse Bedayn in Denver, and Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

Police confront a protesters outside City Hall during protests over federal immigration enforcement raids on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla is pushed out of the room as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holds a news conference regarding the recent protests in Los Angeles on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

A man shouts into a megaphone outside City Hall during protests over federal immigration enforcement raids on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies respond to ICE protests outside the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, where ICE agents were believed to be staying, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Whittier, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

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

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

Los Angeles police officers surround protesters under arrest on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

A man shouts into a megaphone outside City Hall during a protest 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)

Wildfires have forced evacuations for visitors and staff at two national parks in the U.S. West as the summer monsoon season brings increased lightning to the arid region.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, about 260 miles (418 kilometers) southwest of Denver, closed until further notice after lighting strikes sparked blazes on both rims, park officials said. The Grand Canyon’s North Rim in Arizona also closed because of a wildfire on adjacent Bureau of Land Management land near Jacob Lake.

The wildfire on Black Canyon of the Gunnison's South Rim ignited Thursday and has burned 2.5 square miles (6.5 square kilometers), with no containment of the perimeter. The smaller blaze on the North Rim was out as of Friday, according to an incident map.

The conditions there have been ripe for wildfires with hot temperatures, low humidity, gusty winds and dry vegetation, the park said, adding that weather remained a concern Friday.

Fire danger has ramped up in the West as drought conditions have worsened across several states. While monsoon season can drop much-needed moisture on the area from June through September, it can also bring dust storms and thunderstorms like those that ignited the wildfires in the Colorado and Arizona parks.

Firefighters saved Black Canyon's visitor center along the South Rim by removing dry vegetation and coating the building in a layer of protective material, fire officials said. Small aircrafts from Colorado’s Division of Fire Prevention and Control dropped retardant from the sky Friday while ground crews tried to contain the burn. Some park equipment and sheds were damaged, the park said.

In Arizona, the Coconino County Sheriff's Office said it helped evacuate people from an area north of Jacob Lake and campers in the Kaibab National Forest nearby. The fire began Wednesday evening after a thunderstorm moved through the area, fire officials said.

“Gusty and erratic winds” spread the flames Thursday afternoon and inhibited firefighters from containing the blaze, Bureau of Land Management spokesperson Rachel Carnahan said. By Friday afternoon, it had burned about 13.5 square miles (35 square kilometers) with zero containment, and dark clouds of smoke had settled over the Grand Canyon.

About 500 visitors who planned to stay in the park overnight were evacuated Thursday night, Grand Canyon spokesperson Joëlle Baird said. Employees and residents on the North Rim were told to shelter in place.

Melinda Rich, whose family owns the 102-year-old Jacob Lake Inn known for its homemade cookies, evacuated 75 employees Thursday and guests in about 35 cabins that were rented out at the time.

“It’s tricky for us because we were half booked and now we have to refund all of those things, and that’s a challenge financially for us,” she said. “But you also feel bad for the people who, this might be their first time at the canyon.”

Some guests had just checked in when the inn got a call from the sheriff’s office saying everyone should leave immediately, Rich said. The staff began calling and emailing guests who were out exploring, she said.

Even as smoke rose around them, the evacuation felt precautionary because of the wind direction, Rich said. In 2020, a wildfire came within 20 feet (6 meters) of some cabins.

“We had one of those incredible, miraculous moments, a lot of prayers and then wind adjusted just enough that it passed us by about a mile,” she said.

Associated Press writer Felicia Fonseca contributed reporting from Flagstaff, Arizona.

In this photo provided by the National Park Service, smoke from wildfires settles over Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona on Friday, July 11, 2025. (Joelle Baird/Grand Canyon National Park)