Los Angeles prison officials have ignored roughly 25,000 requests from federal agents to turn over criminal illegal immigrants.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has recorded 25,000 unanswered requests to Los Angeles jails to turn over illegal immigrants who have been arrested for criminal conduct unrelated to their immigration status, according to a review of federal data by The Washington Examiner. The California city is home to the largest jail system in the country and is a so-called sanctuary city for immigrants who have entered the United States illegally.
On April 24, Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced a moratorium on transferring illegal immigrants to federal authorities, asserting that the threat of deportation was discouraging illegal immigrants in Los Angeles from reporting crimes. On Aug. 18, the sheriff said he was making the moratorium permanent after an ICE facility in Adelanto, Calif., was sued over its pandemic living conditions.
“There is no greater threat to public safety than a million undocumented immigrants who are afraid to report crime, out of fear of deportation and having their families torn apart. As the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, I am responsible for everyone’s public safety, regardless of immigration status. I will not allow an entire segment of the population to be afraid to report crimes to law enforcement and be forced, again, back into the shadows,” Villanueva said in a statement on the permanent ban on working with ICE. – READ MORE
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