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Chief Beck Says LAPD Will Not Help Trump Administration Deport Undocumented Immigrants
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. (Photo by LeonardFiles via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
Amid fears that President-elect Donald Trump will ramp up efforts to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck has reiterated the department's stance to not take part in such a crackdown."We are not going to engage in law enforcement activities solely based on somebody's immigration status. We are not going to work in conjunction with Homeland Security on deportation efforts," Beck said on Monday, reports the L.A. Times. "That is not our job, nor will I make it our job."
LAPD officers are already prohibited from questioning individuals for the sole purpose of determining their immigration status under Special Order 40, which was signed by then-Chief Daryl Gates in 1979. The purpose of S.O. 40 was to allow undocumented immigrants to report crimes to the police without any fear of deportation. Even under President Trump, Chief Beck says nothing will change.
Throughout the campaign, Trump pledged to deport the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States and build a wall along the Mexican border. He reiterated this stance during his 60 Minutes interview, which aired Sunday night, by saying he would immediately deport 2 to 3 million people.
On Thursday, just two days after Trump's election and her election to the U.S. Senate, Senator-elect Kamala Harris doubled-down on her efforts to protect undocumented immigrants in California at a press conference with the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.
On Friday, at a CHIRLA meeting, Mayor Eric Garcetti said the City of Los Angeles would be ready to stand up against any overreach by the Trump administration. "If the first day, as president, we see something that is hostile to our people, hostile to our city, bad for our economy, bad for our security, we will speak up, speak out, act up and act out," he said.
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, Los Angeles county is home to 815,000 undocumented immigrants.
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