Thousands of people in Southern California protested against the mass deportations planned by President Donald Trump on Sunday, including in downtown Los Angeles, where demonstrators blocked a major freeway for several hours, reports AP> The protesters assembled in the morning at LA's historic Olvera Street, which has ties to Spanish and Mexican heritage, before marching to City Hall. They called for immigration reform and carried banners with messages such as "Nobody is illegal. "Trump's mass deportation plan could overwhelm U.S. Immigrant Detention System By the afternoon, the marchers had blocked all lanes of U.S. 101, causing significant traffic congestion in both directions and on surface streets. The protesters sat down in the lanes, while a line of California Highway Patrol officers observed. It took over five hours for the freeway to fully reopen, according to CHP Lt. Matt Gutierrez. Both the CHP and the Los Angeles Police Department reported no arrests. Elsewhere, hundreds of people gathered in Riverside, where drivers honked and cheered in support of the demonstrators waving flags at an intersection, as reported by the Southern California News Group. In San Diego, hundreds rallied near the city's convention centre on Sunday. Meanwhile, in Texas, demonstrators held protests in downtown Dallas against recent arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Dallas police estimated around 1,600 people attended the two rallies. As Trump returns to the White House, families brace for mass deportations Marchers carried both Mexican and American flags, with speakers voicing their anger at Trump's rhetoric and his administration's actions to increase deportations. One sign read, “Immigrants Make America Great.”

The Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department (JIM) arrested 176 illegal immigrants including 71 Bangladeshi nationals during an operation in the Jalan Alor area of Bukit Bintang. Kuala Lumpur JIM Director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff said the operation, which began at 7:15 pm on Monday in collaboration with Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), was initiated following public complaints and investigations. Among those detainees, 71 were from Bangladesh, 60 from Myanmar, 24 from Indonesia, 16 from Nepal, three from Pakistan, and one each from Egypt and Sudan. Students for Sovereignty demands withdrawal of ‘false cases’, release of arrestees "The case is being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) and Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, along with Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1963, covering offenses related to lacking valid documents and overstaying in Malaysia," Wan Mohammed Saupee said. The arrested individuals have been taken to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Headquarters for processing and further action. The operation involved 61 officers and personnel from JIM, along with 30 officers from DBKL. Source: Bernama  

From makeup artistes and hair stylists to dancers and junior actors, the Indian film industry seems to be increasingly banking on foreign talent -- a trend common in sectors like telecom and information technology. But film artiste unions claim that the trend is depriving eligible Indian nationals of job opportunities in the domestic film industry and that too at a time when Bollywood is struggling to make a comeback following two years of the pandemic. Moreover, nearly 90% of the foreigners employed in the Indian film industry do not have valid work permits and the country's police usually choose to turn a blind eye to such illegal immigrants, according to the film artiste unions. Read: Shah Rukh Khan completes 30 years in Bollywood Indian cinema is made up of numerous regional language film businesses -- from Tollywood in Bengal to Kollywood in Tamil Nadu -- that employ a number of people.  The Indian film industry generates USD 2.7 billion in revenue annually. "But the Indian film industry is now facing a major issue with the foreign crew replacing their Indian counterparts," a union member told an Indian media outlet. "Many of these foreigners are working illegally in India in violation of visa norms." Bollywood is also going through a bad patch -- 15 of the 20 big Hindi films released so far in 2022 have performed horribly at the box office, including Kangana Ranaut's Dhaakad, Akshay Kumar's Rakshabandhan and Aamir Khan-acted Lal Singh Chaddha. Read When Bollywood actor Padmini Kolhapure kissed King Charles

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday urged Greece to open its border gate for the passage of illegal immigrants, who have been waiting in Turkey's northwestern border for the last 10 days to enter Europe.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Sunday said that a total of 78 illegal immigrants have been rescued by the Libyan navy off western Libyan coast.

An immigration reception center in the southern Libyan city of Kurfa on Thursday announced the deportation of 140 illegal immigrants to their home countries.