LOS ANGELES — A one-square-mile section of downtown Los Angeles is expected to remain under a dusk-to-dawn curfew following six days of protests and unrest sparked by federal immigration enforcement in Los Angeles.
Mayor Karen Bass announced the 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew June 10 in an attempt to stop looting and vandalism that has beset the area since June 6. The curfew applies to an area between the Golden State (5) and Harbor (110) freeways, and from the Santa Monica (10) Freeway to where the Arroyo Seco (110) Parkway and Golden State Freeway merge, Bass said. That area includes Skid Row, Chinatown, and the Arts and Fashion districts.
“If you do not live or work in downtown L.A., avoid the area,” Bass said. “Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew, and you will be prosecuted.”
Bass said she expects the curfew to be in effect for “several days.”
Several dozen protesters gathered June 11 outside the federal Metropolitan Detention Center downtown, while dozens more stood outside City Hall a few blocks away. Police said about 150 protesters rode bicycles through the Civic Center area. It marked the sixth straight day of downtown protests sparked by federal immigration raids in the Southland.
Bass was joined by more than 20 mayors representing cities across Southern California at a City Hall news conference June 11, when she renewed her call for President Donald Trump to stop federal immigration enforcement raids in the region.
“A week ago, everything was peaceful in the city of Los Angeles, and in all of the representatives behind me, in their cities as well,” Bass said during the conference. “Things began to be difficult on Friday when raids took place.”
Bass blamed the White House for provoking the unrest and said the motive behind the federal actions remained unclear.
“Maybe we are part of a national experiment to determine how far the federal government can go, reaching in and taking over power from a governor, power from a jurisdiction, and frankly, leaving our city and our citizens, our residents in fear,” Bass said.
She condemned the Trump administration for carrying out raids at Home Depot stores, day labor centers, and workplaces, as well as in close proximity to schools.
“When you run armored caravans through out streets, you’re not trying to keep anyone safe,” she said. “You’re trying to cause fear and panic, and when you start deploying federalized troops on the heels of these raids, it is a drastic and chaotic escalation and completely unnecessary.”
The mayor emphasized that the Trump administration is not targeting criminals, but mothers and fathers, restaurant workers, seamstresses, home care workers — everyday Angelenos trying to make a living.
Paramount Mayor Peggy Lemons thanked Bass for bringing mayors from across the region together during a time of crisis.
“I stand before you today as the mayor of Paramount, a proud tight-knit community that has been deeply shaken by recent events,” Lemons said. “In the last few days, our residents have faced loss, uncertainty and fear for many in our city. This has been one of the most devastating moments in recent memory.”
Lemons said Paramount officials are standing with immigrant residents and have launched efforts to support affected families. The Paramount City Council has established a special fund to assist immigrant households and is exploring additional ways to provide help.
“We will also be seeking out our residents who have been directly impacts so that they may hear from them and provide direct support,” Lemons said.
Paramount was the scene of a clash between federal agents and protesters June 7 outside a Home Depot on Alondra Boulevard, nears the city’s boundary with the city of Compton.
Many in the crowd turned over shopping carts and other objects that were left in the street, while federal authorities in riot gear stood by. The street filled with smoke from tear gas canisters, and at least one protester could be seen on the ground bleeding in news footage, though the nature of the apparent injury wasn’t clear.
Protests have been occurring daily in downtown L.A. area and other parts of the county since June 6, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carried out a series of raids and detained dozens of people.
Trump initially federalized 2,000 California National Guard troops and ordered them to Los Angeles, a move criticized by Bass, Gov. Gavin Newsom and other local officials who warned it would only heighten tensions and provoke further unrest.
On June 9, Trump doubled down, ordering an additional 2,000 Guard troops and deploying 700 U.S. Marines to Los Angeles to help protect federal facilities and personnel. Pentagon officials said the operation is expected to cost approximately $134 million.
Trump has insisted that his deployment of the National Guard saved the city of Los Angeles, but the protests have largely been in a small area of downtown, nowhere close to the size of some of the protests that occurred in 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Speaking at the June 11 City Hall news conference, Huntington Park Mayor Arturo Flores reiterated that the area elected officials stand against these “fear-based tactics” targeting immigrant communities.
“We call on federal leaders to uphold civil rights and end the militarization of enforcement and to pursue humane, community-centered solutions,” Flores said. “Our communities are not battlegrounds — deploying military forces and conducting militarized ICE raids in immigrant neighborhoods is not about public safety. It is about political theater that is rooted in fear.
It threatens families, traumatizes children and corrodes the foundation trust between local government and the people that we serve.”
The mayor’s curfew announcement June 10 followed another day of protests that saw demonstrators gathered outside the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center — while a splinter group made its way onto the Hollywood (101) Freeway, briefly blocking both directions of traffic.
The federal detention center on Alameda and Aliso streets has been a common site of protests, along with the nearby federal building and federal courthouse. The detention center is believed to be the facility where immigrant detainees taken into custody in recent days are being held.
The nearby federal building on Los Angeles Street houses the local office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Hundreds of people gathered outside detention center June 10, but National Guard troops formed a skirmish line to prevent them from entering the facility. By early afternoon, the LAPD had ordered the crowd to disperse, and many protesters made their way either north or south on Alameda Street.
The protests began peacefully, but have devolved into looting and vandalism, prompting the curfew.
On June 9, multiple stores in the downtown area were looted. A window was smashed at an Apple Store downtown during the unrest, with some items stolen and graffiti painted on the shop’s windows. An Adidas store was also hit by looters, along with a jewelry store, a pair of pharmacies, a shoe store and a marijuana dispensary.
The affected stores were generally in an area on or near Broadway, between Seventh and Eighth streets.
Bass condemned the looting, noting in a social media post that people who are vandalizing and burglarizing stores are unaffiliated with people legitimately protesting on behalf of immigrants.
“Let me be clear: Anyone who vandalized downtown or looted stores does not care about our immigrant communities,” Bass wrote. “You will be held accountable.”
