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Thousands of people amassed in major U.S. cities this week to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration raids in Los Angeles – injecting fresh uncertainty in the nation’s capital and beyond just days before Washington, D.C., hosts a massive, first-of-its-kind military parade.
It is unclear what, if any, major demonstrations protesters are planning in coordination with Saturday’s military parade; a $45 million event running through the city’s downtown which will feature hundreds of military vehicles, including armored troop carriers, tanks and Chinook helicopters, winding through the city’s roads and skies in celebration of the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary.
It also happens to be Trump’s 79th birthday.
However, the show of force and military grandeur takes place at a time when a wave of immigration protests in California – and Trump’s attempts to quash the unrest by deploying thousands of U.S. troops to the state – have changed the national mood from tense to combustible, prompting a new wave of demonstrations and clashes with law enforcement in major cities across the U.S.
Combined, the escalating skirmishes have also raised the specter of possible disruption during the patriotic parade, though officials stressed this week that they are closely monitoring the event and security in the surrounding area.
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An immigration protest in Washington, D.C., on Monday afternoon was notably tame. However, the crowd was massive, drawing hundreds of protesters to the city’s downtown area. Other demonstrations are slated to take place in the Washington, D.C.-area throughout the week, including a planned demonstration in the nearby Columbia Heights neighborhood.
U.S. Park Police told reporters this week that they are tracking nine planned protests in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.
Trump, for his part, attempted to get ahead of any protests that could snarl the planned display of military might, warning that any demonstrators that attempted to disrupt the event “will be met with very heavy force.”
“I haven’t even heard about a protest, but [there are] people that hate our country,” he told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
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All the same, major protests continued to crop up this week in other major U.S. cities, and clashes with law enforcement personnel prompted dozens of arrests in New York and in various Texas cities, according to local law enforcement officials.
In Washington, D.C., protesters massed peacefully outside the Justice Department headquarters on Monday to protest the administration’s immigration crackdown and ICE raids.
Many were also there to demand the release of a prominent labor leader, David Huerta, who was arrested in the Los Angeles protests late last week. Huerta, the president of California’s Service Employees International Union (SEIU) chapter, was hospitalized due to injuries sustained during his arrest, according to the union.
Huerta was released Monday evening on bail. He has since been charged with felony conspiracy to impede an officer, which carries a maximum penalty of up to six years in federal prison.
“We’re sick and tired of the illegal acts of the administration,” Jaime Contreras, the executive vice president of SEIU’s Capital Area District chapter, told Fox News Digital in an interview, pointing to the administration’s arrest of Huerta and also the arrest of “so many innocent immigrants” in the U.S. who have been swept up in ICE raids.
“All they want is to provide a better life for their family, which is why your ancestors came to this country,” he said.
The group, which included labor and union groups, among other protesters, marched past the Justice Department entrance and the FBI’s headquarters downtown, chanting and holding signs. The demonstrators yelled, “Pam Bondi, shame on you!” as they gathered outside the entrance to the building.
Nearby, employees at the J. Edgar Hoover Building – which since the 1970s has served as the FBI’s national headquarters – could be seen watching the demonstration unfold from the confines of the building’s infamously brutalist-style balconies.
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“I have one word for you today – enough,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-WA, who spoke at the demonstration in Washington, D.C., on Monday. “Enough of these mass ICE raids that are sweeping up innocent people of every legal status, tearing apart families and our communities.”
The Washington, D.C., protest also took place on the same day that the Trump administration’s wider travel ban officially took hold. The ban prohibits nationals from 12 countries from traveling to the U.S. and imposes partial restrictions on nationals from seven additional countries.
Some at the demonstration told Fox News Digital they had deep concerns about the chilling effect that the ban could have on migrants in the U.S., including individuals that have already submitted visas from now-banned countries on the list.
Ultimately, Contreras told Fox News of the large crowd of protesters, “I think people are angry.”
“I think that people are getting sick and tired of being threatened, of the fear factors that are being used against our community,” he said.
“So yes, people are afraid— but people are also angry. And angry is a great organizing tool for all.”
Beyond Washington, the demonstrations and skirmishes add heat to an already fast-boiling standoff, as both the Trump administration and many protesters have said they have no plans to stand down from the fight.
“We’ll be back,” some protesters chanted on Monday.
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Meanwhile, Trump officials took to social media to condemn the wave of new protests, with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem noting that ICE, which falls under her department’s purview, will “continue to enforce the law.”
“If you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she vowed.
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