LOS ANGELES - Several US cities braced themselves for protests on June 11 against President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration raids, as parts of the country’s second-largest city Los Angeles spent the night under curfew in an effort to quell five days of unrest.

The Governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, said he will deploy the National Guard this week, ahead of planned protests. Protesters and police in Austin clashed on June 9.

Mr Trump’s extraordinary measures of sending National Guard and Marines to quell protests in Los Angeles has sparked a national debate on the use of military on US soil and pitted the Republican president against California’s Democrat governor.

“This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk. That’s when the downward spiral began,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a video address on June 10.

“He again chose escalation. He chose more force. He chose theatrics over public safety... Democracy is under assault.”

Newsom, widely seen as preparing for a presidential run in 2028, and the state of California, sued Mr Trump and the Defence Department on June 9, is seeking to block the deployment of federal troops. Mr Trump in turn has suggested Newsom should be arrested.

Hundreds of US Marines arrived in the Los Angeles area on June 10 under orders from Mr Trump, after he also ordered the deployment of 4,000 National Guard to the city. Marines and National Guard are to be used in the protection of government personnel and buildings and not in police action.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the deployments were not necessary as police could manage the protest, the majority of which have been peaceful, and limited to about five streets.

However, due to looting and violence at night she imposed a curfew over one square mile of the city's downtown, starting from the night of June 10. The curfew will last several days.