Last week, a witness dialed 911 to report a troubling scene in the fashion district where a group of masked men were seen dragging women into SUVs. However, when officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) arrived, instead of intervening, they created a barrier to protect these individuals from an upset crowd that was demanding the release of a woman. The agent involved turned out to be a special agent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Police Chief Jim McDonnell explained that maintaining peace was the officers’ primary duty, emphasizing that they did not have jurisdiction to interfere with federal operations. Meanwhile, critics including political figures and activists took to social media, accusing the LAPD of prioritizing crowd control over investigating the arrest of a woman later identified as a U.S. citizen.
“What happened downtown on Tuesday morning certainly looked and felt like LAPD was siding with ICE,” commented Mike Bonin, a former city council member who now directs the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State. This incident was one of several similar actions LAPD had responded to recently involving federal immigration enforcement.
Even if the local police weren’t actively supporting ICE, their presence raised serious questions about the LAPD’s role in the ongoing federal crackdown, which has already left many Southern Californians anxious. Additionally, rumors surfaced about individuals impersonating law enforcement, leading to fears that federal authorities might recruit bounty hunters to arrest immigrants.
Homeland Security Deputy Director Tricia McLaughlin denounced one report as a hoax, asserting that ICE did not employ bounty hunters for arrests. In a letter to the Police Commission, Councilor Monica Rodriguez insisted that LAPD needs to identify federal agents who often use unmarked vehicles so that residents know who is operating in their neighborhoods. “It’s dangerous to allow unidentified people to detain individuals without oversight,” she wrote. Rodriguez urged the Committee to establish protocols ensuring transparency and accountability.
There are ongoing discussions at the state and local levels about increasing the transparency of officer identification, though it’s unclear if any such measures will come to fruition or whether they could even apply to federal agents.
In light of concerns, McDonnell noted that the department has implemented new guidelines requiring LAPD supervisors to verify the legitimacy of agents claiming to be from ICE, while also ensuring they maintain records of interactions captured on body cameras. However, McDonnell reiterated the department’s main responsibility of ensuring safety and stated they are not authorized to disrupt federal actions.
A recent poll suggested that a significant majority of Californians believe LAPD officers should arrest federal agents who exceed their authority under federal law, expressing a desire for stronger protections for immigrants. There’s also a push for LAPD to limit cooperation with immigration enforcement.
In part of the city’s ongoing response to federal actions, at least seven callers reported suspected ICE operations, prompting LAPD to manage crowds at a scene near Dodgers Stadium where federal agents were detaining individuals. Unfortunately, a long-standing practice of notifying local police about immigration operations has seemingly ceased, leaving them largely uninformed.
In a broader context, cities like Los Angeles are grappling with the relationship between local law enforcement and federal immigration agencies, with significant public scrutiny and ongoing debates on social media highlighting the complexities of policing immigration enforcement.
A troubling incident captured on a livestream featured a woman named Andrea Guadalupe Veres being apprehended by ICE agents, rising tensions as onlookers, including a bystander named Luis Hippolito, called the police, insisting that something was not right. As the LAPD arrived to intervene, they physically separated the crowd from the agents, exacerbating the volatile situation.
Ultimately, this interaction has deepened the division among community members regarding safety, law enforcement legitimacy, and immigrant rights. Veres was later charged with assaulting a federal officer after becoming involved in the incident but has been released on bail with a court date ahead.
