Los Angeles, California - A US Marshal and a suspect were wounded Tuesday when an ICE agent opened fire during an immigration enforcement operation in Los Angeles, the government said.

The incident happened as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tried to recapture an "illegal alien" in an operation supported by US Marshals, Assistant Secretary of State for Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said.

"The illegal alien weaponized his vehicle and began ramming the law enforcement vehicle in an attempt to flee," McLaughlin wrote on social media.

"Fearing for the safety of the public and law enforcement, our officers followed their training and fired defensive shots.

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"The illegal alien was hit in the elbow, and one law enforcement officer was shot in the hand by a ricochet bullet. Both are in the hospital."

Pictures of the aftermath show a vehicle boxed in by three others.

The use of law enforcement vehicles to disable cars has become common as President Donald Trump's campaign to arrest and deport migrants has gathered pace in Democrat-run cities like Los Angeles.

But there have been numerous documented instances where immigration agents have claimed to have been rammed, only for footage to later emerge showing they initiated the contact.

Last week, an activist in nearby Ventura County was arrested after a collision that agents reported to the local police as having been the fault of the man.

Cellphone footage appeared to show the federal vehicle hitting the man's car, however.

In Chicago, a woman was shot at by a Border Patrol agent after she allegedly rammed an official car, but her attorneys have argued that she was rammed by the agents.