POLICE in Los Angeles enforced a downtown curfew on Tuesday night, making arrests moments after it took effect.

Officers on horseback used crowd control projectiles to break up hundreds of protesters demonstrating against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Hours later, many of the protesters had dispersed, although sporadic confrontations continued that were much smaller than on previous nights.

Officials said that the curfew was necessary to stop vandalism and theft by agitators looking to cause trouble.

Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom earlier accused President Trump of drawing a “military dragnet” across the nation’s second-largest city with his escalating use of the National Guard. He also deployed marines, though none were seen on the streets on Tuesday.

Governor Newsom asked a court to put an emergency stop to the military helping federal immigration agents, with some guardsmen now standing in protection around agents as they carried out arrests.

He said that it would only heighten tensions and promote civil unrest. The judge set a hearing for Thursday, giving the administration several days to continue those activities.

The change moves troops closer to engaging in law enforcement actions like deportations as President Trump has promised as part of his immigration crackdown. The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers but any arrests ultimately would be made by police.

Demonstrations have spread to other cities nationwide, including Dallas and Austin, Texas, Chicago and New York, where a thousand people rallied and multiple arrests were made.

In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s office said that Texas National Guard troops were “on standby” in areas where demonstrations are planned, his spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said on Tuesday evening.

Guard members were deployed to San Antonio, according to assistant police chief Jesse Salame. He said that he did not know how many were sent.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested on Tuesday that the use of troops inside the US will increase.