US Steps Up Immigration Crackdown With LA Raids, NY Courthouse Arrests

Hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Los Angeles on Friday afternoon to demand the release of detainees

- Agence France-Presse

LOS ANGELES: Masked and armed federal agents carried out sweeping immigration raids in Los Angeles on Friday, while others pounced on migrants at a New York courthouse in forceful displays of US President Donald Trump's crackdown on people without papers.

From courthouses to hardware store parking lots in two of the most diverse cities in the world, federal agents wrestled migrants into handcuffs and unmarked vehicles.

Agents used extreme tactics, conducting unprecedented raids on at least three areas of Los Angeles to detain dozens of people. At one sweep less than two miles from Los Angeles City Hall, agents threw flash-bang grenades to disperse angry crowds of people following alongside a convoy of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicles as protesters hurled eggs and epithets at the agents, media reported.

'Terror'

"As a Mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place," LA Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.

"These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city."