Original Article By John Binder
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a declaration to proclaim a state of emergency over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arresting illegal aliens in the sanctuary jurisdiction.
On Tuesday the board voted 4-1 to approve the emergency order, which will seek state and federal dollars to award to those claiming to be impacted by ICE raids. Rent relief and legal aid are among the services that will be offered.
“What’s happening in our communities is an emergency — and Los Angeles County is treating it like one,” Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath said in a statement:
Declaring a Local Emergency ensures that the full weight of County government is aligned to support our immigrant communities who are being targeted by federal actions. For months, families have lived under threat and workers have been taken from job sites. This proclamation is about action and speed — it allows us to move faster, coordinate better, and use every tool available to protect and stabilize our communities. We will continue to stand with our immigrant neighbors — today, and for as long as it takes. [Emphasis added]
The board, in a press release following the vote, claimed that ICE arrests of illegal aliens in Los Angeles County “have caused widespread fear, leading to decreased attendance at workplaces, disruption of local economies, and strain on critical services such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship.”
“What’s happening across Los Angeles County is an emergency. It may not be a wildfire or an earthquake, but it is a man-made emergency — created by our own federal government. I want our residents to know that we are in this crisis with them Supervisor Janice Hahn said, ” – and I want us to have every tool at our disposal in this effort. For that reason, I think this emergency proclamation is not just symbolically important as a message to our residents, but critical to our response moving forward.”
Despite a massive effort, California officials have failed to prevent ICE raids.
Last month, the Supreme Court granted a request from President Donald Trump’s administration to override a lower court’s ruling that barred ICE agents from carrying out federal immigration law under the claim that such enforcement constitutes racial profiling.
“… [I]mmigration stops based on reasonable suspicion of illegal presence have been an important component of U.S. immigration enforcement for decades, across several presidential administrations,” Justice Kavanaugh wrote for the majority.
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