About 500 of the National Guard troops deployed to the Los Angeles protests have been trained to accompany agents on immigration operations, the commander in charge said Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman said 500 National Guard members have been trained to accompany agents on immigration operations.

The peaceful protest began shortly after 6 p.m. and soon tripled in size as people congregated in front of a road closure, occupied by at least six members of the California National Guard on

Soldiers mobilized by President Trump protected ICE agents on their raids in Los Angeles. The state of California said the deployment was illegal.

Military troops are protecting federal immigration enforcement agents as they conduct sweeps for illegal immigrants in California. On Tuesday, the Trump administration detailed the role National Guardsmen are playing to provide cover for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as they target illegal immigrants in Los Angeles.

On Tuesday, the X page for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) posted photos of California National Guardsmen on the scene of a detention being carried out by an ICE agent with the caption "Photos from today's ICE Los Angeles immigration enforcement operation."

The crackdown could come at a price for industries across Los Angeles and California that have become increasingly dependent on immigrants, whether they are here legally or not.

HOW WE GOT HERE: The protests erupted after Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on Friday carried out raids in three locations across L.A., where dozens of people were taken into custody. Newsom called the raids “chaotic federal sweeps” that aimed to fill an “arbitrary arrest quota.”

A Department of Homeland Security request for 21,000 National Guard troops to support "expansive interior immigration enforcement operations" includes a call for troops to search for unaccompanied children in some cases.