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The Californian city of Los Angeles is immersed again in chaos. Dozens of people have been arrested after several days of clashes between protesters and security forces in the streets of the city. According to local media, the police have used stunning grenades and tear gas to disperse the crowd. At the same time, the center of Los Angeles It has been declared an illegal meeting area.

The tension is still increasing. The US president, Donald Trump, has made a controversial decision, ordering the deployment of hundreds of members of the National Guard in Los Angeles, considering that the second most populous city in the country suffers “An invasion and occupation by undocumented immigrants and criminals “, despite not having the application or consent of the State.

In fact, the governor of California, Gavin Newson, He described the measure as “deliberately incendiary”, arguing that “it will only intensify the tensions.” In addition, he has confirmed that he will file a lawsuit against the Administration. For her part, the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Basshe has also shown his rejection.

Why are they protesting in Los Angeles?

The bulk of the protests began last Friday, and the trigger would have been the raids carried out by the customs immigration and control service (ICE) in areas with high concentration of Latin population. The fight against irregular migration has been one of the pillars of the Trump administration, which continues to press for increase the number of arrests and deportations, expanding its operations to so far unusual as restaurants or shops.

The first arrests occurred in business in the city center on Friday, extending in the days following other nearby areas. In this context, the crowd would have tried prevent agents from abandoning the places of the raidswhich resulted in confrontations with security forces.

Protests against deportations and policies of the new government have remained throughout the weekend, during which they have registered Highway cuts, vehicle fires and containersand even possible looting. Given these facts, the police have responded with the use of grenades, rubber projectiles and pepper gas.

What is the National Guard and why is its deployment so controversial?

The National Guard is a special unit of the US army that responds to both state governors and the president. It is part of the reserve of the Armed Forces and is divided into two branches: the National Guard of the Army and the National Air Guard. Although its deployment is usually related to natural disasters, it is also used to guarantee security in contexts such as presidential possession or civil disturbance situations, such as protests after the death of George Floyd or current facts in Los Angeles.

In this context, the president of the United States recently announced his decision to send hundreds of troops to the city, claiming that “violent and insurrect mobs They harass and attack our federal agents To try to stop our deportation operations. But these illegal disturbances only reinforce our determination (…) The order will be restored, undocumented immigrants will be expelled and Los Angeles will be free, “he concluded through his social network.

Although it is not the first time that the National Guard is activated in these types of situations, it is unusual for Trump to have appealed to a federal law to do so without consent of the state governor, Gavin Newson, who has manifested himself flatly against.

It is, in fact, the first time since 1992 in which the National Guard is activated in ppresidencial order, without the approval of the state executive. From California it insists that the local police have sufficient ability to control riots No need for military intervention, and warn that this decision can cause a new tension escalation.