Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Wednesday pledged to do “whatever it takes” to protect all Angelenos from the federal government’s aggressive immigration enforcement operations while admitting that the city may not be able to keep the sanctuary status if the court intervenes.
Speaking exclusively with Enrique Chiabra, anchor for Telemundo 52, NBC Los Angeles’ sister station, Bass said she and her staff are reacting to immigration enforcement as it happens since she still does not receive advanced notices from the federal government.
“Everything that’s been happening in the city has been by rumor,” Bass explained, adding there had been talk of ICE raids at MacArthur Park in the Westlake District for a while. “Frankly, I didn’t believe it because it was so ridiculous and atrocious that I couldn’t imagine that the federal government would do that.”
As she called the MacArthur Park operation as a “performance” by the Trump administration, she suspected the operation was filmed for the benefit of the federal government.
“What I heard is that they had a network, a TV network, that was embedded in their raid,” Bass maintained. “I don’t think it was ever meant to be serious. Who were they going to arrest? The people suffering from drug addiction?”
City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson told NBC Los Angeles that no one was detained or arrested during the MacArthur operation although the military vehicle damaged the city streets.
Bass explained when she spoke with U.S. Border Patrol El Centro Sector Chief Gregory Bovino, she was told the federal agents were in the area “to address crime.”
“Nothing that warranted the debacle that they put on display in that park,” Bass said. “There was a criminal element around the park, but it had been addressed, and there was an ongoing effort to address what was happening in the park.”
The mayor said the city council and the LAPD have worked together to “significantly” reduce violent crimes and arrest drug-traffickers in the area.
As the federal government blamed the city and California’s sanctuary status for sending federal agents to conduct immigration raids, Bass admitted she cannot promise that LA will stay as a sanctuary city even though she pledges to do everything within her power to protect the status.
“There is a scenario in which the courts overturn our policy, and I hope that doesn’t happen,” the mayor said. “I’m certainly going to hope for the best, and I’m going to fight for the best.”
Despite the heavy criticism she faced regarding her response to the Jan. 7 wildfires that devastated Altadena and the Pacific Palisades, Bass expressed optimism for her reelection effort in 2026.
“I plan to win. Obviously, I’m going to work very hard,” Bass said while reiterating that “nobody was prepared” for the Santa Ana windstorm that spread the Eaton and Palisades fires.
“(The alert) was not elevated to the point of a critical situation, otherwise the county and the city would have gone into emergency mode,” Bass explained.