Los Angeles officials have doubled-down on ‘sanctuary city’ policies – despite statistics showing a slew of disturbing illegal immigrant arrests.
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously this past Tuesday to do so – an apparent sign to President-elect Donald Trump they will not cooperate with looming federal laws.
The landslide 13-0 vote upheld an executive directive issued by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2019, a little over a year before Joe Biden took office.
The US is now in the midst of a migrant crisis – and Trump, on Monday, made clear he would use the power of the military to carry out promised deportations.
Seeking to undo damage done by his predecessor, his vow came on the heels of some startling new numbers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
They show how, this year, Los Angeles ERO has arrested 1,263 illegal immigrants in the metro area alone. Moreover, 715 already had criminal convictions. None have been named.
Among them were a 47-year-old Mexican wanted in Mexico for human trafficking and a 36-year-old wanted for homicide. A 39-year-old El Salvadorean was also cuffed, ICE said – after he was found guilty of forcing a child under 14 to engage in oral sex.
In January, a total of 26 illegals facing charges or convictions involving murder or attacks on kids were arrested in a matter of days – as part of a single operation.
Los Angeles officials have doubled-down on ‘sanctuary city’ policies last week – despite statistics showing a slew of disturbing illegal immigrant arrests. This photo released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows an illegal alien being arrested in LA
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously this past Tuesday to do so – an apparent sign to President-elect Donald Trump they will not cooperate with looming federal laws
‘The men and women of ERO Los Angeles are mission-driven and dedicated to the safety of our communities and neighborhoods,’ ERO Los Angeles acting Field Office Director Ernesto Santacruz wrote in a press release describing the arrests in LA.
‘The outcome of this operation is another example of their continued professionalism, integrity and commitment to safeguard the homeland.’
Days later, the agency would arrest another El Salvadorean pedophile – a 27-year-old living in LA after already being convicted – in a US court – of lewd acts with a child under 14 years.
He had also already been found guilty of being in possession of child pornography, ICE agents said at the time – still having yet to release his name.
Such is the case with the other culprits, as the newly passed ordinance continues the ban on the city’s collection of information on individuals’ immigration station – and bars the city from notifying feds about the release of detention of illegals.
It also prohibits school district employees from cooperating with any future federal immigration enforcements – such as Trump’s promised deportation order.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho will now have to develop a plan within 60 days to implement the policies before Trump’s administration takes office, paving the way for some pushback from the federal government.
An attorney detailed what could happen next in statements to Fox News, warning that it could warrant ‘a federal lawsuit to find out the constitutionality of sanctuary cities when it impedes the federal government’s rights.’
The landslide 13-0 vote upheld an executive directive issued in 2019, a little over a year before Joe Biden took office
An attorney detailed what could happen next, warning Tuesday that it could warrant ‘a federal lawsuit to find out the constitutionality of sanctuary cities when it impedes the federal government’s rights’
Meanwhile, Los Angeles ERO has arrested 1,263 illegal immigrants this year in the metro area alone. A total of 715 already had criminal convictions. None have been named. An ICE raid in Santa Ana is seen here
‘[Trump could] file a federal lawsuit to find out the constitutionality of sanctuary cities when it impedes the federal government’s rights.’ Los Angeles-based attorney Leo Terrell told the station Tuesday – a week after the guidance was passed.
He added how LA officials were essentially ‘protecting criminals from being deported’ by making the move, and that the federal government’s powers supersedes the city’s.
He went on to declare how the decision will make LA ‘a magnet for criminals’ – after it was revealed the alleged killer in the Rachel Morin case, 23-year-old El Salvadoran Victor Martinez-Hernandez, was wanted in LA in the weeks before the 37-year-old’s murder in Maryland last year.
Morin’s mother, 64-year-old Patty Morin, was one of several to deliver emotional testimony at a congressional hearing this past September about the effects of lax immigration laws.
Pouring her heart out before a packed auditorium on Capitol Hill, Patty blamed her daughter’s death on decisions made by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, saying it, and so many others, ‘were 100-percent preventable.’
‘The American people need to hear, know, and understand the truth of the horrendous war zone we call the southern border,’ Morin began, pleading with the American people to hear her calls for increased border security.
‘President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s open border policy is having a devastating impact across our great nation,’ she countinued, revealing how she and her family lives an astronomical 1,800 miles from the southern border in a small town in northern Maryland.
Los Angeles-based attorney Leo Terrell said the decision will make LA ‘a magnet for criminals’ – after it was revealed the alleged killer in the Rachel Morin case, 23-year-old El Salvadoran Victor Martinez-Hernandez (pictured) – was wanted in LA in the weeks before the murder
Patty Morin was among several mothers of woman allegedly slain by illegal immigrants to speak before Congress in September about the dangers of the US’s current approach to crossings at the southern border. She blamed her daughter’s death on Joe Biden
Morin was allegedly raped and murdered by the illegal migrant, at the age of 37 on a hiking trail in Maryland last year
Still, ‘a man who was wanted for murder in El Salvador made his way to my community and ambushed my daughter on a quaint walking trail in broad daylight,’ she told those convened.
‘I’m here today to make sure that my daughter is remembered as more than a victim.
‘I hope that her story will be the wake-up call that this country needs to secure its borders and protect American citizens.’
Hernandez illegally crossed the southern border months before the August 2023 murder, in February 2023 – after he allegedly murdered a woman in El Salvador a month earlier.
He has also accused of attacking a nine-year-old girl and her mother in Los Angeles just weeks before .allegedly raped and murdered as she jogged on a hiking trail near the family home.
Her mom was among eight people invited to speak at the hearing to share their insight into the negative impacts of border management over the past 44 months, from drugs and human trafficking to violent crime miles away from any crossing.
The mother of 20-year-old Kayla Hamilton, who was raped and killed by an MS-13 gang member in 2022 eight months after she filed suit against feds for failing to stop him at the border, also spoke.
Alexis Nungaray, the mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was allegedly killed by two Venezuelan nationals in Houston earlier this summer before being tossed into a creek partially naked.
Her mom was among eight people invited to speak at the hearing to share their insight into the negative impacts of border management over the past 44 months, from drugs and human trafficking to violent crime miles away from any crossing
Tabby Nobles, wThe mother of 20-year-old Kayla Hamilton, who was raped and killed by an MS-13 gang member in 2022 months after she filed suit against feds for failing to stop him at the border, also spoke, as did Alexis Nungaray, the mom of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray
Pictured, 12-year-old Nungaray, who was killed while going to a corner store near her home in June
The lawsuit from the mother of 20-year-old Hamilton named both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Health and Human Services as defendants
‘I believe the Biden-Harris Administration’s open border policies are responsible for the death of my 12 year old daughter,’ she said, citing how suspects Johan Jose Martinez Rangel, 22, and Franklin Pena Ramos, 26, had been enrolled in an “Alternatives to Detention” program due to ‘Catch and Release’ policies.
This meant the duo could be released into the interior of the United States in May, Nungaray said – adding how it was ‘not even a full three weeks later that they would take [her daughter’s] life.
‘They saw a young girl, my daughter Jocelyn, and placed a target on her without her even knowing,’ she said, citing surveillance footage showing the pair stalking the preteen as she walked to local a corner story where she was eventually snatched.
‘The program the two illegal immigrants were enrolled in failed my daughter.
‘I’m here to use my voice and raise awareness of how broken our country has become with our open border policies.’
Trump, on Monday, promised to reverse such policies – while vowing to use every asset at his command, including the US military, to carry out the unprecedented deportation plan.
His promises for a return to stricter polices at the border seemed to sway voters during this month’s election, after touting the ‘zero tolerance’ approach that saw some parents separated from their children during his first term.
Doubling down, he further claimed migrants were ‘poisoning the blood of the US’ at legal immigrants’ expense.
In January, LA ICE agents arrested a total of 26 illegals already facing charges or convictions involving either murder or attacks on kids were arrested in a matter of days – as part of a single operation
Trump has promised to reverse such policies – while vowing to use every asset at his command, including the US military, to carry out the unprecedented deportation plan
The LA City Council still needs to vote again in the coming weeks to finalize the passage
Doubling down, he further claimed migrants were ‘poisoning the blood of the US’ at legal immigrants’ expense.
Within month, the president-elect managed to soundly beat Kamala Harris – after being backed by 46 percent of all Latino voters.
The number was the most obtained by any Republican in modern history – a result that surprised some.
Latino voters from battleground states such as North Carolina and Pennsylvania – many of whom fled their countries of origin in search of a better life – appeared to take note, however, with a recent Siena poll showing how more than 40 percent of Latino and Hispanic voters supported Trump’s plans to build a wall
A further 63 percent said they did not ‘feel like [Trump] is talking about me’ when he discussed his plans surrounding immigration.
Last week, Trump’s newly appoointed Border Czar, Tom Homan, made it apparent he did not approve of Los Angeles’ actions.
Mayor Karen Bass, in a statement days earlier, indicated the exact opposite.
‘In the face of growing threats to the immigrant communities here in Los Angeles, I stand with the people of this city,’ she said of the then-looming vote.
‘This moment demands urgency.’
The council still needs to vote again in the coming weeks to finalize the passage.
