By Brad Brooks, Jorge Garcia, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Hundreds of U.S. Marines arrived in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday under orders from President Donald Trump, who defended the deployment as he sought to quell protests in the city despite objections from California Governor Gavin Newsom and other local leaders.

The protests began Friday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carried out coordinated raids across Los Angeles, detaining dozens of workers at warehouses and other worksites. The arrests sparked immediate backlash, with demonstrators converging outside federal buildings, blocking freeways, and in some cases clashing with police.

The Pentagon’s deployment of about 700 Marines to Los Angeles to help the National Guard respond to immigration protests follows weeks of rapid developments in President Donald Trump’s signature domestic priority for mass deportations.