Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issues a call for a congressional investigation into ‘unlawful and unconstitutional’ detainment and abuse of U.S. citizens and immigrants by federal agents. U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia is right of Bass.
Courtesy photo
Wave Wire Services
LOS ANGELES — Mayor Karen Bass and U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, are calling for a congressional investigation into what they described as the “unlawful and unconstitutional” detainment and alleged abuse of U.S. citizens and immigrants by federal agents without a judicial warrant or probable cause.
Bass once again criticized the federal government for its aggressive and widespread immigration tactics. Democratic leaders representing the greater Los Angeles Area have denounced federal immigration enforcement since operations began in June.
“I will always stand up to protect Los Angeles. Reports of Angelenos — U.S. citizens — being Tased, dragged and unlawfully detained should make us all concerned,” Bass said. “I’m calling for an immediate congressional investigation into these egregious injustices, and I thank Congressman Garcia for his support.
“This is not just an assault on people of Los Angeles — this is an assault on every person, in every city in this country.”
Garcia, a ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said American citizens are being dragged off the streets by masked men and thrown into detention cells without access to attorneys.
“No one, regardless of their background or appearance, should be living in fear of being thrown behind bars by their own government because of their race or what they look like,” said Garcia, who represents many Southeast Los Angeles County cities that are predominantly Latino, including Bellflower, Bell Gardens, Bell, Cudahy, Maywood, Huntington Park and Downey.
“This is not the America we know and love. Every person in this country has rights, and [the Department of Homeland Security] must stop trampling on our civil liberties,” Garcia added. “Their actions are unconstitutional, unacceptable, and completely un-American, and we will not stop fighting until this administration is held accountable.”
City Council members Eunisses Hernandez, Ysabel Jurado and Hugo Soto- Martinez joined Bass and Garcia for the news conference alongside a group of city workers and immigrant rights advocates.
“Angelenos are being beaten, terrorized and detained without due process,” Hernandez said. “We must fight to keep democracy alive and hold federal immigration enforcement accountable for every abuse.”
The Trump administration has maintained that federal immigration enforcement focuses on the removal of “violent criminals” and the “worst of the worst.” Officials have also denied allegations that detainees are mistreated or held in substandard facilities while in custody.
Mayor Bass has been fighting in defense of Los Angeles families since the Trump administration first began its immigration raids and federalized the National Guard in Los Angeles in June. Bass signed an executive directive to support the city’s immigrant communities.
The directive:
• Required all departments to bolster protocols and training in compliance with the city’s law prohibiting use of city resources in immigration enforcement and deliver preparedness plans.
• Established a working group with the Los Angeles Police Department, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, immigrant rights organizations and community leaders to gather feedback in order to inform additional guidance for police officers when responding to immigration enforcement activities.
• Sought records from the federal government relating to the indiscriminate raids.
• And expanded access to resources from city departments to immigrant families by leveraging each department’s designated immigrant affairs liaison.
