LA Authorities vs ICE Officers

The LA Authorities vs ICE Officers battles continues. Los Angeles, California, is certainly considered one of the biggest and most prominent “sanctuary” cities in the United States.

In case you are not familiar, a “sanctuary city” is a term that is used to describe those cities in the United States that do not want to do the federal government’s job of immigration enforcement and rather than deploying limited local law enforcement resources to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have opted a “hands off” approach when encountering immigrants.

In some cases, certain sanctuary cities would even go as far as limiting their cooperation with the federal government when it comes to enforcing immigration regulations. As you could probably imagine, this is causing quite a friction between the government and such cities.

Los Angeles, as mentioned earlier in this article, is a great example of a sanctuary city. In spite of the high concentration of undocumented immigrants living in the “City of Angels,” local authorities aren’t too keen on enforcing immigration laws when it comes to the residents of the city. Representatives from the local police department, for example, are concerned that assisting ICE authorities and enforcing immigration laws will actually put a strain on and actually disrupt the relationship between local law enforcements and the many communities of undocumented immigrants currently based in the area.

According to local police agencies, the crackdown on immigration causes panic and unrest in minority communities, making it harder for police officers to do their jobs.  It creates greater danger for immigrant communities because they are afraid to call the police because they victim(s) and/or witness(es) may be arrested for violating immigration laws rather than being protected by the police.

Many local administrations strongly believe in the spirit of America as a nation built by and for immigrants. With that belief as a premise, sanctuary cities like LA stand out as a “protective shield” for these many undocumented immigrants. Opponents of sanctuary cities paint a largely bleak picture of this phenomenon, depicting undocumented aliens as dangerous criminals. However, this could not be further from the truth. While there are many examples of criminals among undocumented aliens, the vast majority are law abiding people who are simply looking for better opportunities and for a place where to start over and enjoy a safe and rewarding life with their families and loved ones.   Many studies have arrived at the conclusion that immigrants are actually much less likely to commit crimes that American citizens.

The current Trump administration is cracking down heavily on sanctuary cities across the United States, particularly on Los Angeles.

Trump even threatened to withdraw federal funding from the city, if the local authorities decided to continue to avoid playing ball with ICE. However, Los Angeles authorities, as well as many private organizations, set out to stick to their ideals. After all, California is home to about 2 million undocumented immigrants, who are actually an important part of the local social fabric. In recent years, the state even provided over $15 million dollars a year to offer legal help to immigrants.

Glenn Fogle, a Los Angeles immigration lawyer and founder of “The Fogle Law Firm,”which focuses on representing immigrants and their families regarding immigration matters in the LA area, stated that America is a nation that greatly benefits from immigrants, and they are committed to offering assistance and services to immigrants not just in LA but throughout the country as they have a nationwide reach.