LAPD Defies Donald Trump, Won’t Help Deport Immigrants, Chief Vows

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) will not help with Donald Trump’s goal of deporting illegal immigrants, saying the men and women of the nation’s second-largest police force will instead continue to focus on the city’s crime problems, The Los Angeles Times is reporting.

Trump has pledged to deport “millions” of illegal immigrants as soon as he takes office – a fixture of Trump’s platform since he began his presidential run back in 2015. As The Washington Post reported in July, Trump had famously equated Mexican immigrants with rapists and drug dealers the month before.

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck says that his department will have no part of that. In fact, in some ways, the LAPD is legally prohibited from enforcing immigration policies.

Back in 1979, when Daryl Gates was the LAPD Chief, the department discontinued the practice of “initiating contact” with Los Angelinos specifically to ask about their immigration status. Since that time, the LAPD has moved even further away from being involved in immigration enforcement, For example, for years that LAPD hasn’t reported to federal authorities whenever they arrest an illegal immigrant for low-level crimes, such as drug possession. Further, the department generally won’t honor requests from the Department of Homeland Security to detain jailed inmates who might be up for deportation.

Beck said none of that is going to change in L.A. now that Trump has been elected president.

“I don’t intend on doing anything different. We are not going to engage in law enforcement activities solely based on somebody’s immigration status. We are not going to work in conjunction with Homeland Security on deportation efforts. That is not our job, nor will I make it our job.”

At least one other California city seems to be taking a similar approach to Trump’s coming immigration policy, according to KABC (Los Angeles). San Francisco mayor Ed Lee promised that San Francisco would continue to be a “sanctuary city” for immigrants and minorities.

Back in the L.A. area, where an estimated one million out of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country are believed to live, community leaders and government officials are doing their best to help ease the fears of immigrants in their communities, legal or otherwise.

Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez told the Times that even children are afraid.

“In the past couple days since the election … we have children in our schools who are scared. They think the government is going to come and deport their parents.”

Similarly, L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti, speaking to the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, made it clear that the City of Angels isn’t going to sit idly by while Trump’s policies threaten its immigrant communities.

“If the first day, as president, we see something that is hostile to our people, hostile to our city, bad for our economy, bad for our security, we will speak up, speak out, act up and act out.”

Do you believe it should be the job of local law enforcement, such as the LAPD, to enforce federal immigration laws and cooperate with federal authorities when it comes to deporting illegal immigrants?

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