The newly confirmed Los Angeles Police Department chief vowed at a recent hearing that the department would “not cooperate” with “mass deportations,” in comments that sparked a social media backlash.
“Since I’ve been on the Public Safety Commission, the national election has struck a deep, deep fear in many Angelenos, especially in the immigrant community,” new Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said before being sworn into office. This was stated at the November 8th City Council meeting. Appointed as the 59th director.
“I met with community members and heard their fears, and I also heard some of them in the public comments I made earlier, and I know we will talk more about immigration later in this hearing. I would like to clarify my opinion here in my opening comment,” McDonnell continued. “The LAPD will protect immigrant communities, LAPD officers will not take action to determine an individual’s immigration status or arrest anyone based on that status, and the LAPD will not support mass deportations.”
McDonnell went on to say that Los Angeles is “a city of immigrants.”
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“I know that immigrants are looked down upon right now,” McDonnell said. “But I want people in Los Angeles to know my perspective. Our country was built on immigrants, and Los Angeles is a great city because of people from literally all over the world.”
McDonnell’s comments prompted criticism from conservatives on social media, and a clip of the hearing was posted to X by the popular conservative account LibsofTikTok.
“Who wants to say that a person will be deported whether they like it or not?” the account posted.
“It’s time to send in the feds,” conservative influencer Harrison Crank wrote on X.
“Get out of California now!” political commentator Gunther Eagleman posted on X.
The Los Angeles Times reported that while serving as Los Angeles County Sheriff during the Trump administration’s first term, McDonnell worked with federal immigration authorities to deport criminal illegal aliens, but the hearing did not identify McDonnell. policy, but said he has no intention of doing so in his current role. Including Special Order 40 prohibiting it.
During the hearing, Mr. McDonnell was pressed by Los Angeles City Council member Monica Rodriguez about the immigration issue, which pointed to “drastic changes in the country,” and asked what kind of “protection” is being guaranteed to Los Angeles residents who are in the United States illegally. asked to speak. state.
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Migrants are processed by U.S. Border Patrol near Jacumba Hot Springs after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego, California, June 13, 2024. (Qian Weizhong/VCG, via Getty Images)
“We don’t stop anyone, we don’t arrest anyone, we don’t deal with people based on their immigration status. Everyone is treated equally across the city, so we want that to be part of our ”’ McDonnell said at the hearing.
“That’s been reinforced in recent years by the Trust Act and the California Values Act, and the path forward is very clear,” McDonnell said. “The Los Angeles Police Department is here to serve all of our communities. Immigrants are not a factor in how we treat individuals and groups in our communities. As a police organization, The way we succeed is when crimes occur and people are willing to come forward as witnesses or victims and participate in criminal justice processes that hold people accountable for their crimes.
The Trust Act, signed into law in California in 2014 by then-Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, limits the length of time and reasons local jails can accept ICE hold requests.
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Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump raises his fist as he arrives to speak at a campaign event at Nassau Coliseum on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 in Uniondale, New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A 2018 report from the Cato Institute concluded that since the Trust Act, deportations have decreased by 39% in the city of Los Angeles and by 9% in the rest of the country.
McDonnell told Rodriguez that he will be “very clear” about the position of these immigrants with whomever he speaks, regardless of “what we hear as part of the rhetoric of the political debate.” he said.
Fox News Digital asked the Los Angeles Police Department if McDonnell believed it was “wrong” to deport illegal aliens who committed crimes and if the department would support the effort. was not obtained.
Tom Homan, who served as acting ICE director during the first Trump administration, said, “If they’re not willing to cooperate, then you have to really get out of the way, because[Immigration and Customs Enforcement]Because I’m going to do their job.” He was recently named a “border czar” under the Trump administration, he said in an interview on Fox News Digital on Friday about jurisdictions opposing deportation efforts.
Homan also directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to investigate the 425,000 undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of crimes and are currently roaming freely in the United States, according to a recent ICE report. He promised to give him authority.
“We’re going to go get them,” Homan told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
“And today, I saw a lot of governors in sanctuary states say they are going to get in the way. They better get out of the way. Either you help us or get out of the way. Because ICE will do it.’We’re going to take the handcuffs off ICE that the Biden administration has put on them and let ICE do what they’re supposed to do, what they do best.” Ta.
Fox News Digital’s Kristine Parks contributed to this report