A California senator was dragged out of a Los Angeles press conference hosted by Kristi Noem after he tried to question the US homeland security chief about the controversial ICE raids targeting immigrants.

“I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” he declared while Ms Noem was speaking, prompting a number of security guards to grab him and shove him out of the room.

Ms Noem was addressing a string of recent immigration raids conducted by ICE agents at Home Depot car parks and workplaces that have sparked protests in California which have spread across the country.

Footage of the incident showed FBI agents forcing the senator to the floor and handcuffing him. The senator was briefly detained.