Tensions are rising in Southern California over immigration raids. Here’s what we know

By Michelle Krupa, CNN

(CNN) — On the heels of major shows of force by federal immigration agents in Southern California, a judge is set to rule in a lawsuit seeking to halt immigration raids in Los Angeles.

The developments again thrust a spotlight on the region, which emerged weeks ago as an epicenter of large-scale immigration raids by the Trump administration – and of tense protests against the actions that often yielded arrests of their own.

Demonstrations are planned again Friday in Los Angeles as labor and faith leaders and immigrant rights advocates push back against deportation operations. The mayor also signed an order aimed at protecting immigrant communities.

Here’s what we know about the key events of this week:

Feds and protesters clash at farm

An intense standoff unfolded Thursday as protesters clashed with federal immigration agents carrying out a raid at a legal marijuana farm in Ventura County, California – an operation like those at construction sites, hotels and Home Depot parking lots that have stirred widespread fear among immigrant communities.

Vehicles from Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection blocked the road in a part of Camarillo lined with fields and greenhouses as military-style vehicles and a helicopter flew overhead, the Associated Press reported.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered on the road as uniformed agents in camouflage gear, helmets and gas masks stood in a line across from them, then threw canisters that sprayed what looked like smoke into the air to disperse the crowd, according to video of the encounter and the AP.

The Ventura County Fire Department responded to calls of people having breathing problems after the apparent gas deployment, it said. One person believed to be tear-gassed in the incident suffered burning in his eyes, he told CNN.

Someone also “appeared to fire a pistol at federal law enforcement officers,” Customs and Border Protection said on X, adding the FBI is offering $50,000 for information leading to a conviction in that case.

The Department of Homeland Security was “executing criminal warrants at a marijuana facility,” an agency spokesperson told CNN.

The incident concerned the mayor of nearby Oxnard: “It is becoming increasingly apparent that the actions taken by ICE are bold and aggressive, demonstrating insensitivity towards the direct impact on our community,” Mayor Luis McArthur wrote on Facebook, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“These actions are causing unnecessary distress and harm. I remain committed to working alongside our Attorney General and the Governor’s office to explore potential legal avenues to address these activities.”

As to the confrontation between federal agents and anti-ICE protesters, White House border czar Tom Homan said: “You have the right to protest. I support that. But when you cross the line on impeding us, you’re going to be arrested.”

ICE swamps mostly empty L.A. park

The farm raid happened just days after dozens of federal immigration agents, along with members of the California National Guard, deployed to a mostly empty park in a Los Angeles neighborhood known for its large immigrant population, also sparking a protest – and the mayor’s scorn.

Word had spread of a possible raid before more than 90 troops and officers descended Monday on MacArthur Park, where Mayor Karen Bass watched officers on horseback and soldiers in tactical gear walk past a playground as children at a summer day camp were rushed indoors so they would not be traumatized, she told the AP.

Activists arrived to drive out the agents, yelling and banging on ICE vehicles. Troops and officers left after about an hour, the AP reported.

It’s not clear if anyone was taken into custody during the operation. ICE does not comment on ongoing operations, its spokesperson told CNN.

“Frankly, it is outrageous and un-American that we have federal armed vehicles in our parks when nothing is going on in the parks,” Bass said later. “There was no protest. There was no disorder that required that.”

Bass signed an executive directive Friday morning to support Los Angeles’ immigrant communities. It came in the wake of “unlawful raids conducted by the federal government,” her office announced, mentioning the one at MacArthur Park.

President Donald Trump maintains control of about 4,000 California National Guard troops and hundreds of active-duty Marines he ordered deployed in early June against the wishes of the state’s governor to respond to protests in a 1-square-mile section of downtown Los Angeles against broad immigration raids.

Judge to rule on challenge to ICE raids

Meanwhile, a judge is expected to rule Friday in a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration raids and conditions in federal detention centers.

The suit, filed last week by the ACLU of Southern California on behalf of five people and immigration advocacy groups, alleges the agency overseeing ICE, “has unconstitutionally arrested and detained people in order to meet arbitrary arrest quotas set by the Trump administration,” the ACLU said in a statement.

The plaintiffs allege the Trump administration is unconstitutionally arresting and detaining people in Southern California based on race and conducting mass immigration sweeps without first establishing reasonable suspicion a person is unlawfully in the United States.

US District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong heard arguments Thursday on whether to grant emergency restraining orders in the case, with the government asserting federal agents initiate stops based on intelligence or “trend analysis,” not race or ethnicity.

Frimpong, a nominee of President Joe Biden, appeared skeptical, repeatedly pressing the government for evidence the arrests were based on actionable intelligence rather than targeting areas where undocumented immigrants are presumed to gather.

“It’s hard for the court to believe you couldn’t find one case with a report of why someone was targeted,” she said.

CNN’s Jillian Sykes, Taylor Galgano and Matthew Friedman contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.