Free Republic

The city of Los Angeles is taking its sanctuary title more seriously than most by ordering police officers to stop enforcing a state public safety law because it creates an “unfair burden” for illegal immigrants. A few weeks ago the mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa​, directed the Los Angeles Police Department ​ (LAPD) to stop impounding the vehicles of unlicensed drivers for 30 days as per state law. The measure is intended to keep potentially reckless drivers off the road and therefore protect the public. It applies to unlicensed drivers as well as those who have had their license revoked or...

Illegal Immigration: Los Angeles' city council votes to boycott Arizona for its enforcement of existing federal law. No word yet on how China's human rights violations will be treated. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. The next time the Lakers play Los Suns in Phoenix, traveling fans are advised to bring their own snacks. The L.A. City Council voted 13-1 on Wednesday to economically boycott the state of Arizona for daring to protect its borders against the crime, violence and illegal immigration that recently took the life of an Arizona rancher and has made Phoenix the kidnapping capital of...

An appeals court Wednesday upheld the Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Order 40, a policy governing how officers interact with immigrants.

Daryl Gates to testify at long-delayed hearing today on Jamiel's Law and LAPD's policy on illegal immigrant gang members After months of stalling by Councilman Jack Weiss, his Public Safety Committee is armed and ready today to face angry supporters of Jamiel's Law and Special Order 40 who will get support Monday from tough guy former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates. Talk radio show hosts Doug McIntyre and Kevin James along with mayoral candidate Walter Moore took up the cause of the family of high school football player Jamiel Shaw Jr. after he was gunned down in South Los Angeles in...

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the LAPD's controversial Special Order 40, which directs officers not to ask arrestees about their immigration status. The city of Los Angeles and the ACLU had asked the judge to dismiss the suit.

Judicial Watch filed suit in Los Angeles federal court last year in an effort to overturn the 29-year-old policy, arguing it was unconstitutional because it effectively prevented full cooperation between local police and federal agents in enforcing immigration laws. Under current rules, Los Angeles police officers cannot stop people for the sole purpose of asking about immigration status. But Norris said a lack of police involvement gives carte blanche to those who come to the U.S. illegally. That would stop if officers were allowed to inquire about immigration status, he said.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is off his rocker. This weekend residents of Los Angeles waited with bated breath to hear the State of the City Speech from the mayor. Most Angelenos looked forward to seeing the Mayor once again since it had been while: in the wake of a sex scandal he had all but permanently relocated to the Hillary Clinton campaign bus for the last year and a half. Most residents already knew the State of the City: the City of Angels had become a much harder, more violent place what with the recent murder of Jamiel Shaw...

Los Angeles debates the treatment of illegal immigrants. Sometimes a solitary tragedy can weave all the tangled threads of a far-ranging debate into a sharply focused picture, one that only the willfully blind can claim not to see. Here in Los Angeles, one such tragedy has been the murder of Jamiel Shaw, 17, a high-school student and star athlete who was shot to death on March 2 of this year. Pedro Espinoza, a 19-year-old gang member, has been charged with Shaw’s murder. More than 100 people have been murdered in Los Angeles so far this year, and if this was...

Their son's alleged killer, in the U.S. illegally, had been let out of jail onto streets.   The attack on the Los Angeles Police Department's Special Order 40 -- which limits when officers can ask about the citizenship status of suspects -- has come largely but not exclusively from anti-illegal-immigration forces. But now the order has a new and potentially potent foe: the family of Jamiel Shaw Jr., the Los Angeles High football star who was killed last month. Police have charged a gang member who was in the country illegally with Shaw's slaying. Jamiel Shaw Sr. and his wife,...

ANITA Shaw says, "My country let me down." It's hard to argue with her. Not only did America let Anita Shaw down, so did California and Los Angeles. Truth be told, Anita Shaw is being diplomatic, if not generous, by not lashing out in righteous indignation at the massive tragedy she has suffered at the hands of an indifferent government. Our government: federal, state and local. Who is Anita Shaw and why should you care what she says? Pull up a chair. Anita Shaw is a sergeant in the United States Army. On March 2, little more than a month...

RESOLUTION WHEREAS, any official position of the City of Los Angeles with respect to legislation, rules, regulations or policies proposed to or pending before a local, state or federal governmental body or agency must have first been adopted in the form of a Resolution by the City Council with the concurrence of the Mayor; and WHEREAS, Congress is currently engaged in deliberations for the enactment of comprehensive immigration legislation and the Senate is considering S. 1348, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007; and WHEREAS, during debate before leaving for the Memorial Day recess, the Senate defeated, 48-49, an amendment...

Los Angeles (AP) -- Opponents of illegal immigration on Wednesday sued the Los Angeles Police Department, taking aim at its long-standing "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding suspects' immigration status. The Superior Court lawsuit seeks to force officers to inform federal immigration officials when illegal immigrants are arrested on drug charges. Department policy prohibits officers from inquiring about the immigration status of suspects, a policy strongly supported by Police Chief Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The suit was brought on behalf of unidentified police officers who are afraid to speak out but argue the policy creates a situation...

Acknowledging that Los Angeles is the epicenter of a global gang crisis, fueling violence from Guatemala to Russia, law enforcement officials from around the world will meet this week to tackle the scourge. LAPD Chief William Bratton will open a three-day summit today to discuss the migration of gang members from Southern California to their homelands, bringing a culture of violence and terror. "We are seeing the international gang problem growing by leaps and bounds," said Lt. Gary Nanson, head of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley gang unit. "They have opened up the door for the local criminal. They...

Last week the stakes were raised in the battle over illegal immigration when California Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu allowed the ACLU of Southern California to intervene on behalf of illegal immigrants and others in Judicial Watch’s lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department over “Special Order 40.” You will recall that Special Order 40 is a set of policies and procedures that prevents police officers from inquiring about an individual’s immigration status and communicating freely with federal immigration officials. The ACLU contends that illegal immigrants ought to be able to congregate on street corners seeking illegal jobs without...

A court hearing is scheduled this coming week for arguments in what could be one of the biggest decisions ever in the United States' battle over the integrity of its borders. Officials with Judicial Watch say the case ultimately could decide whether the borders will be secured and the nation protected from illegal immigration, or not. The issue is the Los Angeles police department's Special Order 40, which bans officers from enforcing immigration laws in certain circumstances. "With the help of the ACLU, these illegal immigrants want to be able to seek illegal work on street corners without fear of...

A significant victory was won last week by Judicial Watch in its campaign to stop local law enforcement agencies from undermining federal immigration laws. California Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu ruled against the Los Angeles Police Department in its attempt to halt Judicial Watch's lawsuit challenging Special Order 40, a policy that prohibits police officers from inquiring about an individual's immigration status and reportedly restricts police officers from fully cooperating with federal immigration officials. Here's what the Judge Treu had to say about the LAPD's “demurr” (motion to dismiss): “The parties have expended a great deal of energy arguing...

LAPD can nab deportees who re-enter U.S. A long-standing order designed to restrict Los Angeles police from enforcing immigration laws does not bar officers from pursuing deported felons who have re-entered the country, Assistant Police Chief George Gascon told the Police Commission on Tuesday. The interpretation of Special Order 40 - the 27-year-old policy that prohibits officers from arresting people for illegally entering the country and from investigating a person's immigration status - comes as Los Angeles Police Department leaders get ready to finalize a department directive on how officers should interpret the order's restrictions. "We deal with violent felons...

Bowing to pressure earlier this month, The U.S. Department of Justice released a 2002 legal memorandum revealing the department’s official position on state and local enforcement of federal immigration law. To the chagrin of many, the memo’s author, then Assistant Attorney General, Jay S. Bybee, says state and local police possess the inherent right to enforce civil violations of federal immigration law. The Assistant A.G.’s memo concludes it is “unreasonable” to assume Congress intended to deprive the federal government of “whatever assistance States may provide” in identifying and detaining individuals who have violated federal immigration laws. In other words, the...

Accidents will happen. But, as any insurance company will tell you, most accidents could have been prevented. That’s what allows an accident to become a tragedy. Consider Michael Sprinkles. The 37-year-old paramedic was riding his motorcycle home from work on Sept. 6 when the California Highway Patrol says a car crossed the double-yellow line and killed him. Sprinkles’ death could easily have been prevented. The driver of the car shouldn’t have been behind the wheel -- or even in this country. Suspect Juan Bibinz is an illegal alien. This isn’t Bibinz’s first brush with the law. He’s been arrested a...

I was listening to John and Ken on KFI640 interviewing Councilman Bernard Parks. Parks is introducing legislation to force home centers such as Home Depot and Lowes to build their own ILLEGAL ALIEN LOUNGES because those stores HAVE CREATED THE ILLEGAL ALIEN MESS! John took great exception to this, saying that it was the City of Los Angeles long time non-enforcement of citizenship laws that has caused the problem. The discussion turned into an arguing match, with Bernard Parks basically stating that it was Home Depot and Lowes fault that cause illegals to loiter all over Southern California. John went...