A local pastor, an ACLU organizer, and the leader of an immigration advocacy group showed up early Tuesday to a Los Angeles Police Commission meeting to demand answers after their scheduled presentation on federal immigration raids was canceled.
The groups had been invited to brief the commission on the impact of federal raids and ways to better protect immigrant communities, but on Friday they received a call saying the presentation was canceled. They convened a press conference soon before the commission meeting was scheduled to begin, with dozens of supporters holding “ICE out of LAPD” signs.
The police department has struggled for months to explain to city residents its role in federal immigration sweeps that have resulted in more than 14,000 being detained in the region last year.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell has wavered between publicly criticizing state laws designed to hold federal agents accountable when they refuse to identify themselves and promising full compliance with Mayor Karen Bass’ order for more immigrant protections.
Police Commission President Teresa Sanchez Gordon offered in a March commission meeting to invite immigrant groups to give presentations about their work and concerns regarding the raids.
The commission did not respond to a request from The LA Local for more information about the canceled presentation.
Father Brendan Busse, of Dolores Mission in Boyle Heights and LA Voice said he helped organize efforts to protect people during aggressive federal immigration sweeps last year.
“That’s what we’ve been doing, and that’s what we’re here to ask LAPD to do: To serve and to protect, ” Busse said at the press conference. “Safety and sanctuary go together.”
He described being at a raid in the city’s Fashion District last year, saying “They threw tear gas and flash grenades at all of us.” Others said LAPD officers had established a perimeter around the federal sweep and were seen escorting agents.
In February, Mayor Karen Bass ordered the department to draw a clearer line between the work of local police and the federal government’s deportation efforts. McDonnell soon after established policies requiring officers to identify federal agents at sweep sites and be present only to protect the public.
But Martha Arevalo, executive director of the Central American Resource Center, said that LAPD continues to respond to federal immigration agents requesting aid and is “effectively assisting ICE operations in ways that undermine the local sanctuary protections.”
The Los Angeles City Council established a sanctuary ordinance in late 2024, partly restricting how city employees and resources can assist federal immigration enforcement. Last year, the council passed additional legislation directing the commission to further limit LAPD interactions with immigration agents.
“As a city and as a police department, we have to ask the question: ‘Who are we here to protect?’” Arevalo asked the dozens gathered outside LAPD headquarters, later adding, “You should be wanting to have dialogue about these issues.”
Andrés Kwon, senior policy counsel and organizer at the ACLU of Southern California, told The LA Local that he and others from the groups met with Sanchez Gordon and Inspector General Matthew Barragan in recent weeks. They were invited to give the 20-minute presentation, he said.
Then, he added, “We got pulled.” He said they did not receive an explanation for why their presentation was canceled.
Kwon said they had planned to provide statistics on the impact of immigration raids and a history of the groups’ work since the 1980s helping immigrants fleeing persecution and war.
“We need LAPD to not just blindly trust ICE and Border Patrol,” Kwon said
Several people spoke during the public comment period of the commission meeting requesting that the groups be invited again to present on how to further protect the city’s immigrants.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to requests for comment about this story.
