Protests and riots against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have cost the city of Los Angeles nearly $20 million to date, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
Unrest erupted in Los Angeles and other cities across the country last week after President Donald Trump and ICE ramped up immigration enforcement. As of June 16, Los Angeles had incurred at least $19.7 million in related costs, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) alone has spent $16.9 million, including $11.7 million in overtime pay so far, according to The Los Angeles Times. The price tag for repairs to City Hall and other public buildings are projected to exceed $780,000.
Some estimates, setting aside police-related costs, only cover expenses up to June 13 and do not include the costs incurred over the weekend’s continued chaos, according to the outlet.
Karen Bass, the Democratic mayor of the city, has largely downplayed the violence occurring and shifted the blame onto Trump’s immigration policies.
“I want to tell him to stop the raids,” Bass said, according to The Los Angeles Times. “I want to tell him that this is a city of immigrants. I want to tell him that if you want to devastate the economy of the city of Los Angeles, then attack the immigrant population.”
Protest costs are likely to strain the city’s already shaky finances, with rising legal and labor expenses and declining tax revenue, according to The Los Angeles Times. In 2020, the LAPD spent $40 million on overtime during the George Floyd riots, and related police actions cost the city at least $11.9 million in settlements and jury awards.
The mayor’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
As tensions escalated in Los Angeles, Trump deployed 2,000 National Guardsmen and hundreds of Marines to help restore order. In response, Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom sued the Trump administration and described the president’s actions as an “assault” on democracy, but a federal appeals court upheld Trump’s authority to keep the National Guard in the city while it reviews the case.
On Sunday, the president announced that he is directing ICE officers to expand their deportation operations to “America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York,” which he said had been “overrun by criminals” due to former President Joe Biden’s open border policies.
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Author: Melissa ORourke
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