The Los Angeles Police Department says it will not change its immigration policies, despite pledges by President-elect Donald Trump to toughen the nation’s immigration laws and deport millions of "criminal" undocumented immigrants.
“We’re going to maintain the same posture we always have,” LAPD Chief Charlie Beck told CBS Los Angeles. “We don’t make detentions or arrests based solely on status, whether that’s immigration status or any other status.”
“If the federal government takes a more aggressive role on deportation, then they’ll have to do that on their own,” Beck continued.
The LAPD has a policy known as Special Order 40 that bars officers from initiating contact with anyone for the sole purpose of determining if they are in the country illegally. It has been in place since 1979.
In recent years, the department has also stopped referring low-level arrestees to federal immigration authorities for possible deportation.
