LAPD refused to honor nearly 800 ICE requests in 2022 that would have seen criminal noncitizens deported

JOSEPH MACKINNON
July 24, 2023

Los Angeles is a city rife with crime. Rather than seize upon every available measure to make its job easier, the Los Angeles Police Department has recommitted to hindering the efforts of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain and oust criminal noncitizens.

A new report unanimously approved July 18 by the Los Angeles Police Commission revealed that the LAPD has and will continue to flout federal immigration law ahead of the city's official designation as a sanctuary city for illegal aliens, reported the Los Angeles Daily News.

The annual "Immigration Enforcement, Task Force Reporting Requirements and Department Operations" report indicated that police received 783 detainer requests from ICE last year. The LAPD refused to honor a single one.

"Our top priority is public safety and building of trust, and the demonstration of our agency’s transparency and outreach to all our immigrant communities," said police officials. "Our ongoing focus is to ensure the victims and witnesses are not afraid to contact the police, report crime or become witnesses as necessary, regardless of their immigration status."

"Our focus will always be to maximize public safety for all," they added.

The report made clear that the LAPD continues to adhere to the guidelines published by the Office of the Chief of Police, which underscore the LAPD's commitment to the California Values Act, reported KTTV-TV.

The California Values Act, ratified by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017, prohibited state and local law enforcement agencies, including school police and security departments, "from using money or personnel to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect, or arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes, as specified, and would, subject to exceptions, proscribe other activities or conduct in connection with immigration enforcement by law enforcement agencies."

Extra to precluding law enforcement from helping federal agencies enforce American law, the act rendered public schools, public libraries, health facilities operated by the state, courthouses, and other facilities safe spaces for illegal aliens.

KTTV noted that while the city will not cooperate with immigration officials, those suspected of committing a crime are still fingerprinted through the decentralized automated booking system and entered into the National Crime Information Center, accessible to state and federal law enforcement agencies.This way, though impotent to do anything about it, immigration officials still might have some idea of which predacious foreign nationals are holed up in the Democrat city.

Although California is already a so-called sanctuary state with an estimated illegal alien population of over 3.2 million, CBS News reported that the Los Angeles City Council voted last month to make L.A. a sanctuary city, instructing the city attorney to draft an ordinance with 60 days to bar "any city resources, property or personnel from being utilized for any federal immigration enforcement."

Councilwoman Nithya Raman said, "A significant number of residents in Los Angeles live in fear of being apprehended, detained and deported by federal immigration authorities."

While criminal noncitizens are made to feel welcome, LAPD officers appear increasingly keen to leave the city.

The force has hemorrhaged officers in recent years, losing nearly 1,000 since 2019 and looking to lose another 500 by the end of 2023.

TheBlaze previously reported that Jerretta Sandoz, vice president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, recently told union members to leave the city.

"Go somewhere that respects the work you do," she wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post. "Go somewhere that has a city council or city manager that openly acknowledges the great work you do, go somewhere that doesn’t have Two or more City Council members who hate you (no exaggeration)."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/lapd-r...izens-deported