California City Nixes Contract With ICE After Violent L.A. Immigration Riots

A Los Angeles suburb abruptly terminated its contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after anti-immigration enforcement riots broke out in the region over the weekend. 

Glendale, the fourth-largest city in Los Angeles County, said Sunday that it was ending its agreement with ICE to house illegal immigrants at its police department detention facility. The decision came after rioters torched vehicles and threw objects at federal officials and police officers at multiple protests in L.A. County. 

In a statement explaining its withdrawal, the city said that it had offered “access to clean accommodations, on-call medical care, family visitation, and legal counsel” to those arrested by federal immigration authorities as a result of a 2007 contract signed with ICE and Homeland Security. 

But it said it was ending the deal because of the “public perception” of ICE and potential dangers to local residents and businesses from rioters.

“Nevertheless, despite the transparency and safeguards the City has upheld, the City recognizes that public perception of the ICE contract — no matter how limited or carefully managed, no matter the good — has become divisive,” the city said in a statement. “And while opinions on this issue may vary—the decision to terminate this contract is not politically driven. It is rooted in what this City stands for—public safety, local accountability, and trust.”

The city added that the decision was made in part to ensure that its “residents and businesses do not suffer the consequences of the unruly and unlawful behavior of others.”

Glendale’s decision to end its ICE contract comes just days after the Los Angeles Times published a report highlighting the agreement and quoting leftist activists who urged the partnership to end. They cited a California law passed in 2017 and signed by then-Governor Jerry Brown that prohibits law enforcement from using resources to assist federal immigration authorities in immigration enforcement. Standing contracts, such as the one Glendale had with ICE, were exempted. 

Parts of Los Angeles County were rocked with violence on Saturday and Sunday after protests broke out over ICE operations in the area that began on Friday. On Monday, the Los Angeles Police Department said that 42 people had been arrested on a variety of charges, from assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, looting, and arson. 

“This violence that I’ve seen is disgusting,” said LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell on Sunday. “It’s escalated now. What we saw the first night was bad. What we’ve seen subsequent to that is getting increasingly worse and more violent.”