Los Angeles: Tensions soared in Los Angeles on Sunday as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in defiance of President Donald Trump’s controversial deployment of National Guard troops, with scenes of fiery protest, blocked motorways, and heavy-handed policing unfolding across the city.

Protesters clashed with police after Trump ordered the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to “restore order” amid ongoing demonstrations against a wave of immigration raids. Around 300 troops have already arrived, fanning public anger and prompting large-scale protests across the city.

The latest unrest saw demonstrators block a major section of the 101 freeway and set autonomous vehicles ablaze. Local police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and flashbangs, while mounted units patrolled key streets and riot police took positions outside federal facilities, including a detention centre where immigrants were being held.

By midday, crowds had massed outside the Metropolitan Detention Centre in downtown Los Angeles, chanting “shame” and “go home” at National Guard troops standing in formation with long guns and riot shields. Tensions flared as protesters approached the troops, prompting officers to fire smoke canisters into the street. Minutes later, LAPD officers deployed crowd-control munitions, dispersing demonstrators who had gathered unlawfully, according to police. Many regrouped on the nearby 101 freeway, disrupting traffic until California Highway Patrol officers cleared the area by late afternoon.

The unrest marked the third consecutive day of protests sparked by ICE raids across the city, with dozens of undocumented migrants reportedly detained. The arrival of federal troops has further inflamed tensions between city, state, and federal officials.

Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the deployment as “a serious breach of state sovereignty” in a formal letter to Trump on Sunday, demanding the immediate withdrawal of National Guard forces.

“The presence of the Guard is inflaming tensions in the city,” Newsom wrote.

Mayor Karen Bass echoed the criticism, stating at a press conference: “What we're seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration. This is about another agenda -- this isn’t about public safety.”

Trump, however, defended his decision, arguing that state and city leaders had failed to contain the protests. “Order will be restored,” he declared on social media, as he pledged to “liberate Los Angeles” from what he termed a “migrant invasion”.

The move is seen as a significant escalation in the federal government's immigration enforcement strategy -- and may mark the first time in decades that National Guard forces have been deployed in a state without a formal request from its governor.