Los Angeles Demands That Federal Immigration Officials Stop Calling Themselves "Police"

The practice threatens to erode trust between the LAPD and immigrant communities, the city claims.

Feb. 24, 2017 12:58 PM



In the wake of raids that resulted in the arrest of 161 undocumented immigrants in southern California earlier this month, the city of Los Angeles is demanding that federal immigration agents end the practice of identifying themselves as "police" with the Los Angeles Police Department. According to a letter signed by city officials, that tactic threatens to erode trust between local law enforcement officers and the immigrant communities they police.

"For ICE agents to represent themselves
as police misleads the public into believing
they are interacting with LAPD."

"In Los Angeles, the term 'police' is synonymous with the Los Angeles Police Department," reads a letter that Mayor Eric Garcetti, city attorney Eric Feuer, and city council president Herb J. Wesson sent to the Trump administration Thursday. "So for ICE agents to represent themselves as police misleads the public into believing they are interacting with LAPD."

While there's apparently nothing illegal about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents identifying themselves as "police," the letter claims that the practice undermines the LAPD's efforts to promise immigrant populations that they can provide "valuable information and cooperation" without fear of potential deportation. The letter says that the feds' behavior is "especially corrosive" because the LAPD has a policy against stopping individuals for the purpose of checking their immigration status.

The controversial tactic, which has been used by immigration agents for decades now, received renewed attention this month after an LA Times video showed an immigration agent identifying himself as a police officer, while attempting to gain entry into the home of an undocumented immigrant. The video raised questions from civil liberties groups, including the

American Civil Liberties Union, that argue the misidentification potentially tricks people into allowing agents to search their homes without a warrant.

The letter on Thursday comes amid increasing fear and confusion over President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, while communities across the country prepare to defend themselves against the administration's future deportation efforts. The president has vowed to defund sanctuary cities, including New York and Los Angeles, that have pledged to protect undocumented populations from Trump's deportation plans. One prominent Trump backer, Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke, has even called for prosecuting the mayors of sanctuary cities.

Read the full letter: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/...ce-police-lapd

Test Version:


February 23, 2017

Susan M. Curda

District Director

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
300 N. Los Angeles Street

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Dear Ms. Curda:

According to a Los Angeles Times report, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents operating in
Los Angeles have identi?ed themselves as ?police? of?cers in the course of immigration investigations and
enforcement. The purpose of this letter is to urge in the strongest possible terms that ICE immediately cease
this practice in our city.

For forty years, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles City Attorney's of?ce have worked to
gain the trust, respect and cooperation of all our city's residents. This hard-won con?dence makes all of Los
Angeles safer, encouraging witnesses and victims of crime to come forward irrespective of their immigration
status. Indeed, the LAPD manual states that participation by undocumented residents in police activities
serves to "increase the Department's ability to protect and serve the entire community." The same holds true
for interactions between undocumented residents and the City Attorney's prosecutors.

As a reSult, when ICE agents targeting immigrants identify themselves only as "police" of?cers, they
undermine decades of this work, eroding public safety in our city. In Los Angeles, the term "police" is
synonymous with the Los Angeles Police Department, so for ICE agents to represent themselves as police
misleads the public into believing they are interacting with LAPD. This is especially corrosive given that to
advance public safety, LAPD does not initiate police action with the objective of determining a person?s
immigration status.

In sum, decades of experience by LAPD and City Attorney prosecutors demonstrate the city we serve will be

less safe if any member of our large and diverse immigrant population is driven underground, dissuaded from
providing valuable information and cooperation because they fear contact with our own police force.

Especially in these turbulent and uncertain times, we urge that ICE agents Operating in Los Angeles
immediately stop representing they are ?police? of?cers.

Thank you.

Sincerely.

Eric Garcetti Mike Feuer Herb J. Wesscm
Mayor City Attorney President, Los Angeles City Council

Cc: John F. Kelly, Secretary, .Department of Homeland Security


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