The Los Angeles Police Department received 201 fewer detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2024 than the previous year, of which none were upheld, officials announced Tuesday.
Cmdr. German Hurtado, the department’s immigration affairs liaison, presented findings from the annual report to the Board of Police Commissioners on Tuesday. It details LAPD activities related to immigration enforcement, task force reporting requirements and department operations in 2024.
“The purpose of this report is to assure the Police Commission that the Los Angeles Police Department prohibits initiating police action to discover civil immigration status and does not enforce immigration laws,” Hurtado said.
The total number of LAPD task forces remained unchanged, with 27 teams in 2024 and 2023, some of which involve federal authorities such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Federal Bureau of Investigation; US Marshals; and the Secret Service.
According to the LAPD, 13 of these task forces involve Homeland Security Investigations, a specific investigative group within ICE.
In 2024, LAPD task forces, which cooperate with federal agencies, made 1,321 arrests, but those were not related to immigration enforcement. The arrests were related to violent crimes such as homicides, attempted murders, rapes, assaults with deadly weapons, sex crimes and human trafficking, among others.
The department transferred one individual to ICE custody related to a traffic stop on Nov. 7, 2024, according to the findings.
Hurtado said the LAPD does not track or give any information to immigration authorities. But he added that individuals arrested for crimes are fingerprinted through a centralized, automated booking system. That information is entered into the National Crime Intelligence Center, which is accessible to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
“This entry is not based on civil status, but only for the commission of crimes that are committed in the city,” Hurtado said. “If someone is entered into this system, it’s because they were arrested and booked for a crime.”
On Dec. 29, 2017, the department published a notice titled Immigration Enforcement Procedures, which outlined compliance with SB 54, also known as the California Values Act. The state law went into effect in 2018, prohibiting law enforcement agencies in the state from using personnel and other resources in federal immigration enforcement with few exceptions.
Amid a federal crackdown on illegal immigration and threats to pull funding from so-called “sanctuary cities” such as Los Angeles, LAPD officials are working on videos in partnership with Spanish-speaking consulates to educate migrants on the department’s policies.
“You’re going to see the video of the chief of police speaking in Spanish, and the consulate and myself explaining these policies and stance on immigration,” Hurtado said.
