(Los Angeles) Los Angeles County has declared a state of emergency to financially help victims of federal immigration police (ICE) raids and counter Donald Trump’s repressive policies.
Taken on Tuesday, this unusual decision – a state of emergency is normally declared during climatic disasters – notably allows the county to grant financial assistance to tenants in economic difficulty due to the raids.
It also allows the establishment of a moratorium on expulsions and faster social, legal and financial assistance for migrants affected by Donald Trump’s policies.
“We have entire families going broke because their mothers and fathers were taken from their workplaces,” said Janice Hahn, one of the county officials.
For this Democrat, it is a response “to the fear, the suffering and the disorder caused by these raids”.
“I want our immigrant communities to know that we are at their side in this emergency situation (…) and that we understand what they are going through,” she said.
Supporters of the measure criticize the raids against undocumented immigrants that have multiplied across the United States in recent months, especially in major cities run by Democrats, from Chicago to Washington to Los Angeles.
They are led, most of the time, by masked agents and, according to them, target people who speak Spanish and more generally Latin Americans.
The Trump administration categorically rejects accusations of racial control.
Los Angeles was shaken at the beginning of June by clashes between the police and demonstrators who denounced the raids ordered by the government.
Donald Trump responded by sending the military there.
