Simi Valley City Council Votes Not To Censure Councilwoman Who Made Controversial ICE Remarks

SIMI VALLEY (CBSLA) — The Simi Valley City Council voted to not censure Councilwoman Ruth Luevanos, who posted a video critical of President Donald Trump's latest sweep of undocumented immigrants to Facebook back in July.

In the video, Luevanos used her platform as a member of the council to talk about the border detention centers — referring to them at one point as "concentration camps" — and informed immigrants of their rights during raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"We have a responsibility as community leaders that our most vulnerable — whether they're homeless, or veterans, or low-income or our immigrant population — are taken care of and that they feel safe in our community," Luevanos said.

Critics haven taken exception to the fact that Luevanos referred to immigrant detention centers as "concentration camps," and they're calling what she advised to undocumented people as lawlessness.

Luevanos disagrees.

"I don't think police officers are encouraging lawlessness when they give people their Miranda rights, which they're required to do by the U.S. Supreme Court," Luevanos said in July. "I actually have a law degree and a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, so me giving people their rights — telling them what their rights are — which are according to the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, which is the equal protection clause, is no different than police officers telling people their Miranda rights."

The councilwoman's social media post has drawn death threats, and some were asking for a recall, but Luevanos said she's not going anywhere.