WASHINGTON — Arrests continue to mount in the aggressive federal operation that began more than a month ago to track down and detain undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles, according to Homeland Security figures released Tuesday.
“DHS and its components’ immigration enforcement operations are ongoing in Los Angeles,” a Homeland Security official said in a statement provided to The Times. “Since operations began in June, ICE and CBP have arrested 2,792 illegal aliens in the L.A. area.”
Federal authorities said earlier that 1,618 undocumented immigrants had been detained between June 6 — the start of the DHS operation in Los Angeles — and June 22. The new total includes nearly 1,200 arrests in just over two weeks since then. President Trump deployed the National Guard and U.S. Marines in the city days after the operation began amid heated protests.
The latest figures were released a day after dozens of immigration agents and National Guard members swept through MacArthur Park, just west of downtown, forcing children from a summer camp to be rushed inside.
Gov. Gavin Newsom called it a “disgrace” and the action drew widespread condemnation from local officials. They have repeatedly criticized the federal operations for terrorizing immigrant communities, where business has slowed and many have holed up in their homes.
“The actions from the federal government over the last month do not represent the values of our city or of our country,” said City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the area. “Sending United States soldiers to intimidate children at camp and señoras at the bus stop is not making anyone safer. Raiding Home Depots is not stopping crime. Tearing families away from their children isn’t upholding family values. And let me be clear, this cruelty and the chaos that we see is the point.”
The president’s immigration crackdown in Los Angeles has been a test case for the Trump administration as it presses the bounds of executive authority, deploying federal agents and the military to a major metropolitan city with leadership hostile to its cause of deporting mass numbers of immigrants.
The detentions have proved a challenge to local and state officials, who have been dealt setbacks in federal court over the ability of the White House to conduct enforcement operations at the local level.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has also ruled that Trump can maintain control of the California National Guard, for now, after he took the extraordinary step of federalizing the guard and deploying them to Los Angeles.
Wilner reported from Washington, Uranga from Los Angeles.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
