Los Angeles County has officially declared a local state of emergency — not over fires, floods, or public health crises, but in response to federal immigration enforcement. Yes, you read that right. County officials are mobilizing emergency powers because ICE is conducting lawful operations within U.S. borders, enforcing federal immigration law that Congress passed and every president since Eisenhower has executed.
Supervisor Lindsey Horvath’s office released the proclamation Tuesday, framing routine ICE activity as a destabilizing threat to one of the nation’s largest immigrant populations. The declaration allows the county to offer rent relief, legal aid, and other taxpayer-funded resources to individuals impacted by the enforcement actions — even if those individuals are unlawfully present in the country.
Horvath declared, “What’s happening in our communities is an emergency and Los Angeles County is treating it like one.” That alone should raise eyebrows. Since when is law enforcement the emergency — and not the breakdown of the rule of law?
The language used in the proclamation reads more like the response to a natural disaster: “take necessary emergency actions to protect and stabilize communities impacted by federal immigration actions.” That includes state funds and expanded services aimed at shielding those in violation of federal law from its consequences — an unprecedented use of emergency declarations that sets a concerning precedent for the politicization of disaster powers.
The Board of Supervisors voted 4–1 in favor of the emergency declaration, with only Chair Kathryn Barger dissenting. Her statement was the lone voice of reason in an otherwise activist-driven initiative: “The federal government has sole authority to enforce federal immigration law, and local governments cannot impede that authority.” She added that the county should focus on advocating for legal and workable immigration reform — not playing constitutional chicken with ICE and Customs and Border Protection.
What’s clear is that this move wasn’t about safety — it was about symbolism.
This is a county that refuses to cooperate with federal immigration detainers, declares itself a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, and now cries “emergency” when federal law enforcement dares to do its job. And for what? To grandstand against the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration crackdown? To paint ICE agents — many of them Latino themselves — as invaders?
Let’s be clear: federal immigration enforcement is not random, nor is it designed to “target” law-abiding families. Raids typically focus on individuals with final removal orders, criminal records, or active warrants. If families are being “torn apart,” perhaps attention should be directed at the underlying illegal status that made that risk inevitable — not at the officers enforcing the law.
Supervisor Janice Hahn spoke of “destitute families” and the “fear” created by these actions. But the economic disruption, school absences, and business closures she cites are not caused by enforcement — they’re symptoms of a region that has allowed itself to become heavily dependent on undocumented labor and off-the-books employment. That’s not a policy failure by ICE. That’s a governance failure by Los Angeles County.
And Supervisor Holly Mitchell’s claim that the raids are “emboldening acts of race-based violence” is as inflammatory as it is unsubstantiated. What emboldens lawlessness is not enforcement — it’s lawlessness being tolerated for so long that its correction feels like an intrusion.
