Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed a new executive directive Friday aimed at strengthening city protections for immigrant communities in the wake of what she described as “unlawful and chaotic” federal immigration raids across the region.
During a news conference, Bass called the directive necessary to help Los Angeles “understand how to protect itself from our federal government,” referencing a series of immigration enforcement actions that have occurred in the city over the past six weeks, including recent incidents in MacArthur Park and Ventura County.
“We saw MacArthur Park earlier this week, which I think, now after all assessments, is viewed as just a display of force,” Bass said. “Just to put the city in its place, to say, ‘We are the federal government, we can roll out troops whenever we choose.’”
The new order, Executive Directive No. 12, requires all city departments to submit preparedness plans within two weeks that include department-specific protocols and training. These plans must outline how city employees, including contractors, should respond if approached by federal immigration agents on city property, while remaining compliant with both federal law and local ordinances.
Bass said the goal is to ensure city workers and residents—particularly immigrants—know their rights and can safely access city services without fear. She emphasized that all departments should designate an immigrant affairs liaison and report any federal enforcement activity to the mayor’s office immediately.
“We want to disseminate information on city services and assistance programs for families that are impacted by federal enforcement actions,” Bass said. “Even people that contract with the city—we want them to understand what their rights are.”
The directive comes days after the mayor announced legal action against the Trump Administration in response to the immigration raids, which she described as unconstitutional and reckless. Bass pointed to an incident where militarized federal vehicles were deployed in MacArthur Park while children attended summer camp nearby, calling it an effort to instill fear in immigrant communities.
“We are a proud city of immigrants,” she said. “And with the Trump Administration signaling that they will ratchet up their chaotic approach, I’m making sure we deploy every resource and tool available within the city.”
The directive also establishes a new LAPD-led working group that will collaborate with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, immigrant rights organizations, and community leaders. This group will help develop additional guidance for how officers should respond to immigration enforcement.
Bass also ordered the submission of a Freedom of Information Act request to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to obtain records related to immigration raids in Los Angeles, including dates, locations, arrest reasons, and the use of identifiers such as badges and masks by federal agents.
“In these raids, it’s not just people who are undocumented, but people who are in the country legally, people who are showing up for their annual immigration visit, or even sometimes U.S. citizens who have been detained,” Bass said. “When people are taken from our city, we do not necessarily know where they are going.”
The directive reinforces existing city policies, including Special Order 40 from the LAPD, which prohibits officers from initiating action solely to determine immigration status, and a 2024 ordinance that bans city resources from being used to support federal immigration enforcement.
Bass closed her remarks by again highlighting the irony of needing to protect the city from its own federal government.
“I just want to repeat the irony that I am going to sign an executive directive to help the city family understand how to protect the workforce and Angelenos from our federal government,” she said.
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