The Los Angeles Police Department will no longer comply with federal requests to detain illegal immigrant inmates past their jail terms, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Monday.
The agency will now only honor requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to keep an inmate in custody if there has been a judicial determination of probable cause or a warrant issued, a CBS affiliate reported.
“The federal government is in charge of enforcing federal immigration laws, not us at the local level,” Mr. Garcetti said. “That responsibility can’t be forced onto local law enforcement officials who already have stretched budgets.
“I want us to be focused on gang crimes, getting drugs off our streets and stopping our gun violence,” he said. “So, on behalf of our taxpayers, we are saying ’no more.’”
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said the shift in policy will build a stronger relationship with the community, an NBC affiliate reported.
“That’s why this is so important,” he said. “This builds trust in a community that sometimes feels separated from not only it’s police department, but from the rest of city government.”
The LAPD chief has voiced support in the past for allowing illegals to receive driver’s licenses and skirt a mandatory 30-day impound rule following traffic stops, the station reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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