LA mayor: Immigration arrests could cause a ‘tinderbox’

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) in a recent radio interview said he is concerned that increased Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids under the Trump administration could cause already high tensions in his city to boil over.

“If something goes wrong, I fear a tinderbox out there, you know where people will suddenly say ‘no’ and try to defend. You know, keep that person from being taken,” Garcetti told Latino USA.

“That’s a very dangerous situation. That’s dangerous for those officers. That’s dangerous for those agents. And we’re going to have to respond.”

{mosads}Garcetti noted that the city has built trust between the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and the immigrant community that could be affected by aggressive immigration actions, like those promised by President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. 

“We just commemorated, you know, 25 years since the urban unrest and we know how quickly things can explode,” Garcetti said, referencing the 1992 riots that followed the acquittal of several LAPD officers in the beating of Rodney King.

“But when ICE calls themselves police, people open that door expecting to see LAPD. It’s bad for ICE, and it’s bad for LAPD,” he said.