Los Angeles mayor issues curfew for downtown Los Angeles

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday issued a curfew for the city's downtown following several days of intense protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids that saw clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement, widespread vandalism and some looting, particularly during the late night and early morning hours.

"I have declared a local emergency and issued a curfew for downtown Los Angeles to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting," she told reporters.

The curfew will begin at 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday and last until 6 a.m. on Wednesday and apply to a 1-square-mile area in downtown where demonstrations against ICE have continued. The LA police department said it had carried out more than 300 arrests in the last two days.

"If you do not live or work in downtown LA, avoid the area. Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew and you will be prosecuted," Bass said.

The city's curfew came after President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of 4,000 national guard members and 700 marines to LA following four days of protests driven by anger over aggressive ICE raids that have targeted illegal immigrants across America's second-largest city.

Trump's action bypassed the authority of Governor Gavin Newsom of California and triggered more protests that spread to other U.S. cities.

Newsom filed an emergency request on Tuesday to block the Trump administration from using military forces to accompany ICE officers on raids throughout LA, but was rejected by a federal judge.

He went on his criticism against Trump, saying the president overstepped his authority by deploying troops to Los Angeles and he is stoking tensions in LA.

"California may be first, but it clearly will not end here," Newsom warned in the live-streamed address.

"If some of us can be snatched off the streets without a warrant, based only on suspicion or skin color, then none of us are safe," he said, adding Trump is declaring "a war on culture, on history, on science, on knowledge itself."

He called on Americans to "stand up and be held to account," but urged any protesters to do so peacefully.

On the other side of the American continent, several thousand people took to the streets of New York City on Tuesday to protest Trump's immigration policies. The protesters marched into Lower Manhattan, many carrying signs that read "ICE, out of New York."

"I'm here to stand up for those who don't have a voice to be here at the moment, especially for my mom," one woman at the protest told AFP. "Honestly, this country wouldn't be what it is without the immigrants. So I'm here for them," she added.

Another protester named Jacqueline, a 23-year-old American woman with Mexican heritage, said: "I'm here to defend my family... I fear for them now, and I don't want to live in a society where I'm in fear for my family's health."

(With input from agencies)