Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D-Calif.) on Wednesday condemned local raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) alongside her counterparts in the surrounding area.
“I posit that maybe we are part of a national experiment to determine how far the federal government can go in reaching in and taking over power from a governor, power from a local jurisdiction and frankly leaving our city and our citizens, our residents in fear,” Bass said during the Wednesday presser.
“All of us represent cities in this region where immigrants are key and if in some cases not the majority of the population. To have people live in fear like it is today is just unacceptable,” she added.
Her words come as President Trump deployed thousands of National Guard soldiers and hundreds of Marines to combat protests in Los Angeles. Bass issued a curfew for the Downtown LA area seeking to quell violent demonstrations while urging the Trump administration to remove federal forces.
“Militarization of immigration enforcement has no place in our neighborhoods. And the deployment of Marines on U.S. soil is an alarming escalation that undermines the values of democracy,” Huntington Park Mayor Arturo Flores, a former active duty soldier, told the public Thursday.
“As mayors across this region, we stand united in rejecting fear-based tactics that target immigrant communities and erode public trust. Let me say that one more time. We stand against these fear-based tactics that target immigrant communities and erode public trust,” he added.
Flores urged federal forces to “uphold civil rights” noting that their communities “are not battlegrounds.”
“Deploying military forces and conducting militarized ICE raids in immigrant neighborhoods is not about public safety,” he said.
“It is about political theater that is rooted in fear. It threatens families, traumatizes children, and corrodes the foundational trust between local government and the people that we serve. I stand shoulder to shoulder with Mayor Bass and with my fellow leaders and fellow mayors here and any leader who values justice over intimidation.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) filed a lawsuit against Trump for unleashing the state’s soldiers without first consulting him. Newsom said National Guardsmen have not been given a place to sleep or ample food and water since arriving in LA.
“For many in our city this has been one of the most devastating moments in recent memory. Lives have been disrupted, families are too afraid to leave their homes, and the very places that once served as gathering spots for joy, like our beloved swap meet, have been marred by fear,” Paramount Mayor Peggy Lemons said at the presser.
“As a vibrant gathering place for our diverse community, some are avoiding going to work.”
Hundreds of residents have been arrested since demonstrations began last Friday and more people face potential detainment as Trump’s border czar Tom Homan pledges to continue operations amid outrage.
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