LA County Sheriff will not join ICE deportation raids in Los Angeles
FILE PHOTO – US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Baltimore Field Officer director Matt Elliston listens during a briefing, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Md. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna says his department will not participate in ICE raids in LA. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
LOS ANGELES – Amid the crackdown on immigration during President Donald Trump’s administration, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Friday his department’s policies on enforcement and assistance have not changed.
Luna reinforced his position that immigration enforcement is not part of the sheriff’s department’s jurisdiction, following reports that a large-scale Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation is scheduled to take place in LA before the end of the month.
ICE agents conducting the raids will concentrate on undocumented immigrants who have pending orders of removal, according to the Los Angeles Times, citing an internal document.
“I can assure people that we are not going to participate in (ICE) sweeps,” Luna said during an interview with ABC 7 on Thursday.
Additionally, Luna said the sheriff’s department does not have the resources to assist in ICE operations.
“For an immigration challenge, that is a civil immigration issue; it’s a federal law enforcement issue,” Luna said. “We in local law enforcement have our hands full. Most of our departments are short-staffed.
“We’re doing so many things to service our community, we simply don’t have the staffing to start assisting in immigration enforcement.”
Even though Luna said the sheriff’s department will not assist ICE and immigration enforcement, it is monitoring local responses to increased immigration activity.
Protests across Los Angeles County began this month in response to the new immigration policies initiated by Trump.
On Saturday, protesters, organized by the Freedom Socialist Party, the United Front Working Group, the Community Self-Defense Coalition and other organizations, marched in downtown near City Hall.
Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has acted on his campaign promise to increase deportations, with ICE conducting raids in major cities.
Saturday’s protest followed Friday’s demonstration by high school students that turned violent and left a teenager with stab wounds.
There have been demonstrations against Trump’s deportation policy daily in the downtown area since Feb. 2.
The Los Angeles Times reported Feb. 7 that an ICE enforcement action is planned for Los Angeles and is slated to take place before the end of February, with agents concentrating on immigrants who have pending orders of removal.
“We always encourage, if people are going to protest, to exercise their First Amendment rights, to do it peacefully – no violence, no destruction of property,” Luna said. (With CNS report)
