The White House will deploy its National Guard to intervene in the Los Angeles protests as furious demonstrators continue to clash with federal agents and riot police.

“President Trump has signed a Presidential Memorandum deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen to address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced.

This comes after US President Donald Trump addressed the extraordinary scenes on his Truth Social account.

“If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!,” Mr Trump wrote.

Chaotic scenes erupted across seven locations on Friday night (local time) in response to raids led by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The sweep led to the arrests of at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations.

Protests escalated on Saturday in the Paramount area in southeast Los Angeles, resulting in security agents engaging in a tense confrontation with demonstrators.

It’s been reported that one protester was seen waving a Mexican flag, and some covered their mouths with respiratory masks.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that “1000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer funded property”.

A senior White House aide Stephen Miller wrote on X that the demonstrations were “an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States”.

The protests pit Democratic-run Los Angeles, where a significant portion of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born, against Mr Trump’s Republican White House, which has made cracking down on immigration a hallmark of his second term.

Mr Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the US-Mexico border, with the White House setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3000 migrants per day.

But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also included people legally in the country, including some with permanent residence and has led to legal challenges.

Television news footage earlier on Friday showed unmarked vehicles resembling military transport and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation.

The Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, condemned the immigration raids.

“I am deeply angered by what has taken place,” Ms Bass said. “These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. We will not stand for this.”

The LAPD did not take part in the immigration enforcement. It was deployed to quell civil unrest after crowds protesting the deportation raids spray-painted anti-ICE slogans on the walls of a federal court building and gathered outside a nearby jail where some of the detainees were reportedly being held.

The Department of Homeland Security criticised Democratic politicians, saying their anti-ICE rhetoric was contributing to violence against immigration agents.

“From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is beyond the pale. This violence against ICE must end,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

- With AAP