A US judge has temporarily banned President Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops in Los Angeles, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Judge Charles Breyer ordered the National Guard to return to the control of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who filed a lawsuit to limit its activities. Breyer's order will take effect at noon on Friday.
In connection with this decision, Newsom said that it only confirmed what "we all know: the military belongs on the battlefield, not on the streets of our city."
Americans are divided over President Donald Trump's decision to activate the military in response to protests against his crackdown on immigrants, with about half of people supporting the move, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that ended on Thursday, BTA reported.
About 48% of participants in the two-day survey agree with the statement that the president should "deploy the military to restore order in the streets" when protests turn violent, while 41% disagree. Opinions on the issue were sharply divided along party lines, with members of Trump's Republican Party overwhelmingly supporting the idea of calling in troops, while Democrats were strongly opposed.
At the same time, only 35% of respondents said they approved of Trump's response to the protests in Los Angeles, which included sending National Guard troops and US Marines to the city, as well as threats to arrest Democratic Party officials, including the governor of California.
About 50% of respondents said they disapproved of Trump's response.
The US president claims that the deployment of the military in Los Angeles is necessary because of the protests there after a series of raids against immigrants there. Some of the demonstrations in Los Angeles have turned violent - with cars burning on city streets - and 46% of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll said protesters opposing Trump's immigration policies have gone too far, compared with 38% who disagreed.
Trump campaigned and won last year's election on a promise to increase deportations of undocumented immigrants, and Reuters/Ipsos polls have consistently shown support for him on immigration policies than on other issues, such as the management of the US economy.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,136 Americans nationwide, which has a margin of error of about 3 percentage points, showed broad support for increasing deportations. About 52 percent of those polled - including one in five Democrats and nine in 10 Republicans - support increasing deportations of people who are in the country illegally. However, 49 percent of those surveyed believe Trump has gone too far with immigration arrests, compared to 40 percent who say he has not.
Democratic Senator Alex Padilla was shoved, forced to the ground and handcuffed by security after he tried to ask a question at a news conference hosted by Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam on Thursday about the crackdown on immigrants, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"I am Senator Alex Padilla. "I have questions for the secretary," Padilla said during a news conference in Los Angeles, where Noam was discussing protests in the city over President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration.
"Hands down," Padilla, 52, told security agents before being escorted from the room.
A video clip shared by Padilla shows what happened next: Three agents wrestle him to the ground and handcuff him behind his back. Reuters could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the video.
Padilla represents California, where protests have been taking place in Los Angeles for days against Trump's crackdown on immigrants. The White House responded by sending National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to the city, saying they would help secure federal buildings and protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The Department of Homeland Security, in a statement to "Ex", accused Padilla of engaging in "disrespectful political theater."
The explanation is that Secret Service agents mistook him for an attacker and therefore "acted appropriately."
Noam later met with Padilla.
The senator said in a statement that he was released shortly thereafter.
"If this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator who has a question, you can only imagine what they are doing to the farmers, the chefs, the workers throughout the Los Angeles community, throughout California and across the country," Padilla said.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino defended the agents' actions on social media.
US President Donald Trump said that "soon" will issue an executive order on immigration, after posting on social media earlier on Thursday citing labor problems in the farming and hospitality industries stemming from his crackdown on immigration, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"Our farmers are being hit hard ... And we're going to have to do something about it," he said at a White House event. "We'll have an executive order on that very soon, I think ... and for leisure, for hotels."
He did not say what changes the executive order would make or when it would take effect. White House and Homeland Security officials had no specific comment on the possible order, and Agriculture Department officials were not immediately available for comment, Reuters noted.
"We will follow the president's direction and continue to work to remove the worst criminal illegal aliens from America's streets," said Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Tricia McLaughlin.
American agricultural industry groups have long urged Trump to spare their sector from mass deportations that could disrupt the food supply chain, which relies heavily on immigrants. According to the Departments of Labor and Agriculture, nearly half of the country's roughly 2 million farmworkers and many dairy and meatpacking workers are not legally employed.