The Los Angeles City Council approved the selection of Jim McDonnell as the city’s next police chief, despite protests from immigrant rights activists concerned about whether the department would cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
Responding to those concerns Friday, McDonnell said he would not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE.
“I want to be clear to all people of Los Angeles, especially our immigrant community, which is feeling uncertainty and fear: This is a city of immigrants and my job is to serve you,” he said during the meeting.
The council confirmed McDonnell’s appointment in an 11- 2 vote. McDonnell was sworn in at a private ceremony afterward.
Some community activists have said they opposed the hiring of McDonnell, citing concerns over his record when he served as L.A. County sheriff. During that time, they said, he failed to improve conditions inside Men’s Central Jail, failed to rid the department of deputy gangs, and handed over unauthorized immigrants in jail to federal agents.
“We strongly oppose McDonnell’s appointment due to his prior history of colluding with ICE,” Bruno Huizar of the California Immigrant Policy Center, said Friday to the City Council.
Referencing the re-election this week of President Donald Trump, who promised mass deportations if he returned to office, Huizar said: “Trumpism has no place in Los Angeles.”
McDonnell noted there had been a lot of talk since Tuesday’s election about what would happen afterward.
“What I can say here is any talk of mass roundups or the Police Department being involved in that thing, we don’t do that kind of thing,” he said.
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