LAPD won't help deport immigrants, Chief Beck tells Los Angeles Times

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
LAPD won't help deport immigrants, Chief Beck tells Los Angeles Times
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said it was not the job of his officers to help deport undocumented immigrants.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles Police Department will not aid in the deportation of immigrants under President-elect Donald Trump, Chief Charlie Beck told the Los Angeles Times in an interview.

A key concern for many anti-Donald Trump protesters in Southern California was his pledge to toughen federal immigration laws.

But here in Los Angeles, a sense of relief was felt by some protesters after Beck reiterated the LAPD's stance on immigration.

"I don't intend on doing anything different. We are not going to engage in law enforcement activities solely based on somebody's immigration status," Beck told the Los Angeles Times. "We are not going to work in conjunction with Homeland Security on deportation efforts. That is not our job, nor will I make it our job."

MORE: Deportation fears spike in SoCal after Trump's presidential victory

Elsewhere in California, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee vowed that the city would remain a sanctuary for immigrants and other minority groups.

Trump reaffirmed his stance on immigration in an interview with "60 Minutes."

"What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people, probably 2 million, it could be even 3 million, we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate," Trump stated. "But we're getting them out of our country, they're here illegally."

MORE: President-elect Donald Trump in 1st post-election interview vows to deport millions

As for the millions of immigrants living in the country illegally, Trump said his administration would make a "determination" about their status later.

"After the border is secure and after everything gets normalized, we're going to make a determination on the people that you're talking about who are terrific people, they're terrific people," Trumps said.

Over the weekend, approximately 8,000 demonstrators gathered in downtown Los Angeles to form the largest anti-Trump rally to date since Election Day.