JOHN YANG: Good evening.

I'm John Yang.

In Los Angeles, quiet streets have greeted the first of 2,000 National Guard troops sent by President Trump in response to two days of clashes between protesters and immigration officers.

Demonstrators had gathered at places around the city where officers were carrying out raids, some of them throwing things.

Authorities used power, pepper spray and flashbang grenades to try to restore order.

In a memo to the Pentagon and the attorney general, Mr. Trump said he was acting under a rarely used law because the demonstrations constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, objected, saying on social media that the Guard's presence will escalate tensions and erode public trust.

Democratic Representative Nanette Barragan represents Paramount, California, a heavily Latino city where there were clashes yesterday at a Home Depot.

Representative, thanks for joining us.

What do you think accounts for the fact that things are calm now?

REP. NANETTE BARRAGAN (D) California: I haven't seen any immigration activity today that and raids like we saw in the last couple of days.

So I think that is a factor.

But look, you know, people are afraid, they're worried, they're concerned.

I think that's why you're seeing the protests.

They are protesting mass deportations and what this administration has been doing for the last several months, whether it's trampling on due process, just deporting people.

There is no targeted effort to actually find serious criminal offenders.

And that is what you're seeing people protest.

It's saying, get out of our communities.

JOHN YANG: What's your reaction to the president sending in the National Guard?

NANETTE BARRAGAN: Well, I think this is -- I think the governor's right.

I think this is an effort by this president, number one, to distract from his failed policies, whether it's about to take millions of health care away from people, whether it is the tanking economy, prices are going up, he reverts right back to what he knows, and that is immigration.

And so I think this is his way of showing force.

I think it's a unnecessary effort.

I spoke to local law enforcement yesterday evening.

They had things under control.

They got things under control without the National Guard, and so did LAPD.

So we know that the National Guard really is just an effort for the president to escalate things and have more tension and show, you know, flex his muscle.

Maybe that's a better way to put it.

But it's unnecessary, and it's really a dangerous power grab.

JOHN YANG: You talk about the anger.

We've seen pictures of people throwing things at officers trying to block their vehicles.

Is that an appropriate response?

NANETTE BARRAGAN: I condemn all violence, and we are telling people to protest peacefully.

You can have civil disobedience peacefully as well.

But we do not believe that people should be throwing items at law enforcement.

And violence is no answer.

I will also say, I think that last night we saw people who were taking advantage of the situation, who I don't think were there really to protest the immigration conduct and activity.

They were destroying property, they were looting.

Those people should be arrested.

And that is not what the movement against the immigration action is.

So we want to continue to have people be peaceful.

JOHN YANG: And what do you make of the president's description of this as a rebellion against the government's authority?

NANETTE BARRAGAN: You know, this is more of the President manufacturing something that's not there.

You know, this is a situation where in California.

We, our local law enforcement does not participate in federal immigration conduct.

And that's what he wants.

He's acting like a dictator.

And we're seeing that happen, both in his language.

We're seeing it happen in the way he's defined, even court orders, how he's trampling on due process.

JOHN YANG: Help us understand what the difference is between what immigration was doing in the last two days that sparked all this anger and what they've done in the past.

NANETTE BARRAGAN: So what they've done in the past is immigration has been showing up at hospitals as women were delivering to separate their babies and deport the mothers.

They've been showing up at schools.

They've been showing up just about any place, even work sites.

They even picked up a U.S.

Marshal, mistaking him for an immigration person they wanted to deport.

And in the last couple of days, we've seen immigration show up and just indiscriminately show up at places like a Home Depot parking lot where people are trying to find a job.

They're not criminals.

And so this is his mass deportation effort, which is not focused on finding criminals.

And I think that is one of the reasons you're seeing people protest.

They're protesting these mass deportations.

JOHN YANG: Representative Nanette Barragan, thank you very much.

NANETTE BARRAGAN: Great.

Thank you.