Federal immigration sweeps in Los Angeles sparked two days of protests around the city, prompting a standoff between the White House and state officials over whether authorities had the situation under control.

United States President Donald Trump ordered the California National Guard to Los Angeles yesterday, against the wishes of state officials, and troops arrived today.

Democrats in the state condemned the move as escalatory and unnecessary.

Here’s what to know.

Why were there protests and where were they in Los Angeles?

At the weekend, demonstrators took to the streets of Los Angeles and the nearby cities of Paramount and Compton to protest against raids conducted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).

Video from local news media showed helmeted law enforcement officers dressed in tactical gear using tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowds in Paramount.

Photos and videos from Paramount and Compton showed damage to a service station and vehicles that had been set on fire as protesters appeared to light fireworks.

On Sunday, Ice accused protesters of having “destroyed taxpayer-owned property around Los Angeles” the previous day.

Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in statements that local authorities had the situation under control.

The most prominent incidents appeared to be concentrated outside the Los Angeles city limits. The city’s police department said Sunday’s protests had been “peaceful” throughout the day.

Some protesters were arrested, Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks said, alleging that they had assaulted federal authorities. He did not specify the number of arrests made.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said today that it arrested two people yesterday in Paramount for assaulting officers after several deputies sustained minor injuries from the protests, including from a molotov cocktail.

Members of the Trump Administration also accused California officials of responding too slowly.

In a statement yesterday, the Los Angeles Police Department said it did not co-ordinate with federal authorities in advance of Saturday’s immigration sweeps and was unable to “proactively plan for the potential for civil unrest”.

What happened during the immigration raids?

In a social media statement yesterday, Ice said it arrested 118 people who were in the country illegally. The Washington Post could not independently verify the claim.

Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), said at a news conference that there were seven raids throughout the Los Angeles area, including at two Home Depots, a doughnut shop and a clothing wholesaler.

She said her organisation confirmed that more than 45 people were detained in the operations, which she described as “random sweeps”. The Post could not independently confirm the nature of the raids.

Carlos González Gutiérrez, the consul general of Mexico in Los Angeles, previously told the Post that his office estimates that more than two dozen of those detained during Saturday’s raids are Mexican nationals.

On Saturday, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said his agency was “not involved in civil immigration enforcement” and would “not assist or participate in any sort of mass deportations, nor will the LAPD try to determine a person’s immigration status”.

Why did Trump order the National Guard to Los Angeles?

Trump issued an order for 2000 members of the California National Guard to intervene in the LA protests.

His directive to the secretaries of defence and homeland security and the attorney-general said the call-up was necessary to temporarily protect federal officials as they enforce the law, and protect federal property.

He said the deployment would be to “locations where protests against these functions are occurring or are likely to occur based on current threat assessments and planned operations”.

National Guard members arrived in the city today. Video from local TV station KABC showed members removing equipment from their vehicles near Los Angeles City Hall.

Yesterday, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth backed the activation of the National Guard and suggested that active-duty Marines could also be deployed.

He wrote from his personal account on X that Marines located at Camp Pendleton, south of Los Angeles, are “on high alert” and could be mobilised “if violence continues”.

Newsom responded swiftly, calling Hegseth’s threat to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil “deranged behaviour”.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said today on CBS News that the National Guard troops are “there at the direction of the President in order to keep peace and allow people to be able to protest, but also to keep law and order”.

How have California officials and lawmakers responded?

In a statement yesterday, Newsom said Trump’s order to deploy the National Guard was unnecessary and “purposefully inflammatory”.

He said that law enforcement officials had “no unmet need” and that local authorities had the demonstrations under control.

In a post on X, he urged demonstrators to “never use violence” and “speak out peacefully”. He told protesters to deny the Trump Administration the show of force it wanted by staying calm.

“The federal Government is taking over the California National Guard and deploying 2000 soldiers in Los Angeles – not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle,” he wrote.

“Don’t give them one.”

LA Mayor Karen Bass’ office said today that she will “continue to actively respond to immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles” and will be monitoring “reports of unrest outside the city, including in Paramount”.

Her office said she has been in direct contact with officials in Washington, as well as law enforcement, “to find the best path forward”.

Other California Democrats condemned Trump’s decision.

Calling the deployment without the Governor’s authorisation “unprecedented”, Senator Adam Schiff said the move is “designed to inflame tensions, sow chaos, and escalate the situation”.

Senator Alex Padilla said the federal Government was “just sowing more chaos and division”.

Representative Gil Cisneros noted that Trump had refused to deploy the National Guard when the US Capitol was under attack by a mob of his supporters on January 6, 2021.

- Tobi Raji, Kelsey Ables, Emily Davies, Niha Masih, Dan Lamothe and Maeve Reston contributed to this report.