Thousands of people protesting mass deportations planned by President Donald Trump marched in Southern California on Sunday, including in downtown Los Angeles where demonstrators blocked a major freeway for several hours.

Thousands of people protesting mass deportations planned by President Donald Trump marched in Southern California on Sunday, including in downtown Los Angeles where demonstrators blocked a major freeway for several hours. Protesters gathered in the morning on LA's historic Olvera Street, which dates to Spanish and Mexican rule, before marching to City Hall. They called for immigration reform and carried banners with slogans like “Nobody is illegal.” By the afternoon, marchers had blocked all lanes of U.S. 101, causing traffic to back up in both directions and on surface streets. The demonstrators sat down in lanes, while a cordon of California Highway Patrol officers stood by. It took more than five hours for the freeway to fully reopen, CHP Lt. Matt Gutierrez said Sunday evening.

Protesters started to descend on Olvera Street at about 9 a.m. About 30 minutes later, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) announced street closures because of “a non-permitted demonstration blocking traffic.” The California Highway Patrol encouraged people to avoid downtown Los Angeles. “Please avoid the 101 freeway in DTLA between I-110 and Mission Rd., as we work to remove a protest from the freeway. Accessing state highways or roads to protest is unlawful and extremely dangerous because it puts protesters, motorists and first responders at great risk of injury,” CHP wrote on X.