Los Angeles, California - California on Tuesday asked a court for a restraining order to prevent US troops being deployed on the streets of Los Angeles, after President Donald Trump sent in Marines and the National Guard.

"Sending trained warfighters onto the streets is unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy," Governor Gavin Newsom said.

"Donald Trump is behaving like a tyrant, not a President. We ask the court to immediately block these unlawful actions."

The move came five days after immigration raids around Los Angeles ignited demonstrations – mostly peaceful, but with sporadic clashes between protesters and law enforcement.

The violence – including the burning of several cars on Sunday – has been eye-catching but isolated, and local officials have insisted they remain in control.

But Trump and his administration have argued otherwise and taken the extraordinary step of deploying thousands of National Guard troops and even active duty Marines – over Newsom's protests.

The president and his Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, "have sought to bring military personnel and a 'warrior culture' to the streets of cities and towns where Americans work, go to school, and raise their families," according to the court filing, seen by AFP.

"To put it bluntly, there is no invasion or rebellion in Los Angeles; there is civil unrest that is no different from episodes that regularly occur in communities throughout the country, and that is capable of being contained by state and local authorities working together," it said.

"And nothing is stopping the President from enforcing the laws through use of ordinary, civilian mechanisms available to federal officers."