Amid widespread riots in Los Angeles against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a California suburb Sunday night announced it’s scrapping a years-long detention agreement with the agency.
The City of Glendale formally terminated an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the parent department of ICE, to house federal immigration detainees at the Glendale Police Department facility, according to a press release from the city. In its public statement, Glendale acknowledged that the decision was made in reaction to public perception and noted that the move could make visitation of detainees more difficult.
“[Glendale] recognizes that public perception of the ICE contract — no matter how limited or carefully managed, no matter the good — has become divisive,” the statement read, denying that the decision to terminate the contract was “politically driven.”
“We acknowledge with regret that some families may now face greater difficulty visiting loved ones held by ICE, and that access to legal counsel may be more limited elsewhere,” the statement continued, adding that their facility offered climate-controlled pods with ongoing access to seating areas and telephones. “It is also our duty to ensure that Glendale’s residents and businesses do not suffer the consequences of the unruly and unlawful behavior of others.”
While there are federally-run detention facilities and other private contractors who offer similar services across the country, DHS also contracts with local law enforcement agencies to temporarily house illegal migrants. Glendale acknowledged that its contact with ICE gave detainees “due-process proximity” that can be lacking in privately-operated detention facilities or in centers in remote areas around the U.S.
However, the City Manger ultimately decided that it was in Glendale’s “best interest” to cancel the ICE contract, believing public perception would somehow undermine trust between local police and the community.
In response to targeted ICE enforcement operations in the Los Angeles area earlier in June, protesters began demonstrating against the agency — which quickly turned violent and into full blown riots.
The violence erupted despite many of the illegal migrants nabbed in the LA operations being identified as career criminals with serious convictions under their belt. Among those arrested by ICE agents included individuals convicted or arrested of murder, intent to commit rape, sexual battery, cocaine and heroin distribution, conspiracy to transport an illegal migrant and other heinous crimes.
Over 1,000 rioters surrounded a federal building, assaulted ICE agents, slashed tires, and defaced government property on Friday night, according to the agency. Media footage of the mayhem shows anti-ICE protesters blocking traffic, defacing public property, setting cars ablaze and waving the flags of numerous foreign countries.
Over objections from California Democrats Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, President Donald Trump Sunday ordered the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops to restore order.
“In the wake of this violence, California’s feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
“That is why President Trump has signed a Presidential Memorandum deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen to address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester,” Leavitt continued. “The Trump Administration has a zero tolerance policy for criminal behavior and violence, especially when that violence is aimed at law enforcement officers trying to do their jobs.”
The entire state of California has strict laws forbidding cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE, such as SB 54, and if a slate of other legislation is passed by the Democrat-dominated state legislature, more restrictions against ICE agents will soon follow.
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