The federal agents left, apparently without making any arrests. The park is in an area that is home to longstanding criminal street gangs.
After weeks of decrying federal immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass confronted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on July 7 as they gathered at a city park.
Some 100 ICE agents gathered just before 11 a.m. near MacArthur Park in the Westlake area, about two miles west of City Hall. The officers were in vans and some armored vehicles on the outskirts of the park.
The federal agents were wearing vests, and about a dozen Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers were riding horses into the park. They appeared to be staging for deportation activities.
The gathering gained media attention, spurring local activists and protesters to converge on the park.
MacArthur Park is in an area that is home to longstanding criminal street gangs, many affiliated with the Mexican cartels. The park has seen gang shootings, rampant drug use, discarded syringes, homelessness, and people with mental health issues.
Bass, who has repeatedly called for an end to immigration operations in the city, was captured on video arriving at the park before noon surrounded by security officers and walking up to federal officers. Several journalists yelled questions at the mayor as she tried to speak with officers.
One Border Patrol officer called a supervising officer before handing Bass his cellphone.
Bass was seen on news video speaking on the cellphone, saying: “You’re getting ready to leave? OK. Please, can you leave ASAP? What is the issue?”
The Border Patrol agent asked for his phone back from the mayor, telling her he was leaving.
Bass told journalists at the park that the federal law enforcement presence was “unacceptable.”
“They need to leave, and they need to leave right now,” she told reporters.
The agents left apparently without making arrests.
According to Fox News, the CBP official Bass spoke with was Chief Gregory Bovino of the agency’s El Centro Sector. Bovino told Fox News, “I don’t work for Karen Bass. Better get used to us now, cause this is going to be normal very soon. We will go anywhere, anytime we want in Los Angeles.”
