LAPD presence at South L.A. immigration raid sparks questions

Los Angeles Times

01-03-2025

Los Angeles Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez is calling on the city to create clearer protocols regarding its immigrant sanctuary laws after Los Angeles police officers were spotted during an enforcement operation in South Los Angeles on Friday.
Videos circulating on social media showed federal agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement at an apartment building in the 400 block of East 41st Street, where neighbors shouted and called them 'perros' — 'dogs' in Spanish. The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, which runs a hotline to report raids, said it also fielded calls about several enforcement actions across the county.
Yasmeen Pitts O'Keefe, an ICE spokeswoman, said there was a 'ongoing investigation on human smuggling.' She did not provide details of the operation, such as how many individuals were arrested or how widespread it was.
At least one resident — 22-year-old Jessica, who declined to give her last name because she feared law enforcement retaliation — said she saw at least two people being taken into custody. She said LAPD officers were assisting the operation by blocking traffic into the neighborhood.
Los Angeles' sanctuary law bars city employees and city property from being used to 'investigate, cite, arrest, hold, transfer or detain any person' for the purpose of immigration enforcement. But it makes an exception for law enforcement investigations into serious offenses.
In a statement Friday evening, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said officers were in the Newton Division 'assisting with traffic control as Homeland Security was attempting to arrest a suspect wanted for human trafficking.'
'I want to be absolutely clear: The LAPD does not participate in civil immigration enforcement,' he said. 'This has been the department's policy since 1979, and it remains unchanged today.'
LAPD Cmdr. German Hurtado said federal immigration officials requested assistance with today's enforcement operations in the city, but the department declined because of its longstanding policy against such actions. The department does cooperate with federal authorities in cases involving arrest warrants for certain violent crimes.
After watching TikTok videos of the incident, Hernandez introduced a City Council motion asking the city attorney to outline 'clear guidance and understanding about their responsibilities under the city's sanctuary city ordinance.'
'It is the responsibility of the City Council and other city leaders to reduce confusion and panic within our communities when these federal agencies are present, and be able to provide clarity on the rights of constituents as well as resources available to them,' states the motion, which will need to go before the full council for a vote.
In an emotional plea to her colleagues, Hernandez said some of Friday's enforcement operations were taking place in her district.
'We have to put everything on the line to protect our families, to protect our young people, to protect Los Angeles and a significant portion of the Los Angeles population,' she said. 'I'm asking you to get ready. My field offices are open to anyone who needs to get know your rights information.'
A woman told Fox 11 that immigration agents had entered her home and took an 18-year-old guest who she said had no criminal background into custody. At the home, a wall was damaged and a mattress overturned, according to footage broadcast by the station.
Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents part of South L.A., said during Friday's meeting that ICE agents were in his and Councilmember Curren Price's districts knocking on doors, pulling over cars and 'doing a number of things that were of questionable legality.'
'Neighbors were on the street helping neighbors,' Harris-Dawson said. 'People who didn't know their rights, neighbors were telling them their rights.'
Harris-Dawson said ICE agents were spotted in an area bounded by Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the north, Florence Avenue on the south, Avalon Boulevard on the east and Vermont Avenue on the west.
'People are sending us pictures, people are sending us video,' he said. 'I have some staff out there. We're getting it piecemeal because there's no formal announcement.'
Immigrant rights activists have been on heightened alert since President Trump took office and promised 'mass deportations.'
Ron Gochez, a member of the Community Self-Defense Coalition, a group of more than 60 organizations that has been patrolling the streets looking for immigration enforcement actions, said he arrived at the South Central apartment building around 7:45 a.m.
'We got there, and there were a lot of federal agent vehicles there. And that's wasn't surprising,' he said. 'But what was surprising was that there was also multiple LAPD vehicles at the location right next to the federal agents vehicles.'
He got on the megaphone and began telling people not to come out, not to speak to ICE agents and not to sign anything. He eyed people in the apartments.
'They heard me, and they all looked at me,' he said. 'I saw children.'
The motion will go to the public safety committee before it goes to the full council for consideration.
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.