Los Angeles County officials approve emergency declaration over immigration raids

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County officials voted Tuesday to declare a state of emergency that gives them power to provide assistance for residents they say have suffered financially from ongoing federal immigration raids.

The move allows the LA County Board of Supervisors to provide rent relief for tenants who have fallen behind as a result of the crackdown on immigrants.

The immigration raids that ramped up over the summer have spread fear in immigrant communities, prompting many to limit their outings. Federal agents have rounded up immigrants without legal status to be in the U.S. from Home Depots, car washes, bus stops, and farms. Some U.S. citizens have also been detained.

The local state of emergency can also funnel state money for legal aid and other services.

Funds for rent will be available to people who apply via an online portal that would be launched within two months, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath's office said. The motion could also be a first step toward an eviction moratorium, but that would require a separate action by the supervisors.

Landlords worried it could be another financial hit after an extended ban on evictions and rental increases during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The declaration was passed by a 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Kathryn Barger opposing.

Horvath and Supervisor Janice Hahn said the raids have spread fear and destabilized households and businesses. In late August, there were more than 5,000 arrests in Los Angeles as part of the crackdown. About a third of the county’s 10 million residents are foreign-born. Several cities in the region canceled their Fourth of July celebrations and summer movie nights as families stayed home due to safety concerns.

Since June, the Los Angeles region has been a battleground in the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration strategy that spurred protests and the deployment of the National Guards and Marines for more than a month.

“We have residents afraid to leave their homes, we have constituents contacting my office because their family members never came home and they don’t know if they’ve been taken by ICE or where they’ve been taken,” Hahn said. “We have entire families who are destitute because their fathers or mothers have been taken from their work places and they have no way to pay their rent or put food on their table.”

Last week the five-member board voted 4-1 to put the declaration up for a vote at its regular Tuesday meeting. The sole “no” vote also came from Barger, who argued that the immigration raids did not meet the criteria of an emergency and that it could be unfair to landlords.

“I’m sure we’re going to be challenged legally,” Barger said. The county's eviction moratorium during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in multiple lawsuits.

Several people said they were against the emergency declaration if it would lead to an eviction moratorium during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s vote.

Landlords are “still reeling” from the COVID-era freezes that cost them “billions of dollars in uncollected rent and prohibited annual rent increase,” said Daniel Yukelson, CEO of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles.

He said housing providers are sympathetic to tenants and their family members affected by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities. But, he said, the association isn't aware of anyone unable to pay rent due to immigration enforcement.

“If local jurisdictions once again allow rent payments to be deferred due to ICE enforcement activities, this will lead to the further deterioration and loss of affordable housing in our community,” Yukelson said Monday.