L.A. City Leaders Blast Trump Administration's Move To Deploy Border Agents In Sanctuary Cities
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — City leaders are blasting the Trump administration's plans to deploy federal S.W.A.T. teams in sanctuary cities, including Los Angeles, as part of President Trump's promise to crack down on criminals in the country illegally.
The Trump administration is threatening new sweeps that could begin as early as this weekend.
On Friday night, the White House planned to send 100 officers from the border to sanctuary cities across the country, including Los Angeles.
City leaders say they were blindsided.
In a radio interview with KNX Newsradio, Mayor Eric Garcetti called the proposed deployment ludicrous and potentially dangerous.
"We had no heads up," Garcetti said.
"If you have people wearing tactical gear and things like that, without coordinating that with local law enforcement, that could be very dangerous," he added.
The mayor also posted a tweet reminding undocumented people in Los Angeles of their rights.
"No matter their immigration status, I want every Angeleno to know their rights and how to exercise them," Garcetti said in the video posted to social media.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva issued a statement, reading in part: "I strongly oppose the irresponsible deployment of S.W.A.T. agents in Los Angeles County. We are not any safer if an entire segment of our population is afraid to report crimes to local law enforcement."
While some are calling the president's deployment of border agents a political stunt, others are saying it's about time.
"You have these local jurisdictions, including the state of California, that are preventing the federal government from bringing criminal aliens from the United States," said Ira Mehlman, with the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
Immigration attorney Alex Galvez says the deployment of S.W.A.T. officers is more about politics than public safety.
"You're sending 100 CBP [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] officers into these sanctuary cities. It's not going to have any real impact when it comes to lowering the criminal rate," Galvez said.
Few details are being released regarding the deployment. CBS2/KCAL9 is told 100 officers will be deployed between February and May in nine areas, including Los Angeles and San Francisco.
There was no word on how many tactical officers will be involved in the operation at the time of this report.
