Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass went on a victory run Monday after claiming to have stopped immigration raids in her city, but the head of Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector said the agency was not done with its mission.
Bass has been vocal in her opposition to deportation efforts, but she launched into action when federal agents reportedly began a large-scale operation at the famed MacArthur Park.
‘We will go anywhere, anytime we want in Los Angeles.’
Bass posted video showing federal agents rushing into the public park and expressed her outage in a post on social media.
“This is footage from today in MacArthur Park. Minutes before, there were more than 20 kids playing — then, the MILITARY comes through,” she wrote. “The SECOND I heard about this, I went to the park to speak to the person in charge to tell them it needed to end NOW. Absolutely outrageous.”
KTTV-TV reported that the operation included armored trucks but that no arrests were made after Bass intervened.
Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino told Bill Melugin of Fox News that Bass had spoken to him on the phone about the operation and that he offered a defiant response.
“I don’t work for Karen Bass. Better get used to us now, cause this is going to be normal very soon,” Bovino said.
“We will go anywhere, anytime we want in Los Angeles,” he added.
KTTV’s report praised Bass for what it called a “moment of visible leadership” and quoted her end of the phone conversation.
“So they’ve stopped that? They’ve completed their mission here? What’s the time frame before they leave?” Bass said in the call.
Bass also called the operation “outrageous and un-American” and accused the Trump administration of orchestrating a militarization of the streets through federal immigration law.
“There is no plan other than fear, chaos, and politics,” she said. “Home Depot one day, a car wash the next, armed vehicles and what looked like mounted military units in a park the next day.”
In June, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the administration would continue deportations despite protestations from local lawmakers and riotous demonstrators.
“We’re going to stay here and build our operations until we make sure that we liberate the city of Los Angeles,” Noem said.
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