“Despite the transparency and safeguards the City has upheld, the City recognizes that public perception of the ICE contract—no matter how limited or carefully managed, no matter the good—has become divisive.”
The Los Angeles suburb of Glendale has canceled its contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid immigration riots and violence directed at the federal law enforcement agency in California.
Officials with Glendale announced Sunday night that they would be cutting off their contract with ICE for housing illegal immigrant detainees, and called the agreement between ICE and Glendale "divisive," per KTLA.
Over the weekend, amid riots and violence directed at ICE when they were conducting operations in LA, President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to tamp down the chaos. The Glendale Police Department has previously agreed to hold illegal immigrants in their jail if they had been issued a detainer. However, the city said that this practice would end in light of the events that took place over the weekend.
“By offering local access, detainees were given due-process proximity that is too often lacking in more remote or privately-operated detention centers,” Glendale officials said. “Nevertheless, despite the transparency and safeguards the City has upheld, the City recognizes that public perception of the ICE contract—no matter how limited or carefully managed, no matter the good—has become divisive. And while opinions on this issue may vary — the decision to terminate this contract is not politically driven. It is rooted in what this City stands for—public safety, local accountability, and trust."
Glendale officials went on to say that other California police departments do not cooperate with ICE, and that they would be following suit in order to not enforce federal immigration law. Despite the police department saying they would cut off the contract with ICE, Glendale officials claimed that police will make sure that residents do not “suffer the consequences of the unruly and unlawful behavior of others. Moving forward, the facility will continue to serve local law enforcement needs without participation in federal detention efforts."
“Glendale is consistently ranked as one of the safest cities in the nation. That is no accident. The Glendale Police Department is trusted and supported by the residents and businesses,” continued the statement. “At this time, it is in our best interest to not allow that trust to be undermined.”
The median property value in Glendale is over $1.2 million, according to Zillow, and the suburb has multiple gated communities along with a lower crime rate.
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