LA County Board approves emergency declaration over immigration raids

By Brad Brooks and Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) -Los Angeles County moved a measurement person connected Tuesday to enacting an eviction moratorium that would support renters who person been financially harmed by President Donald Trump's migration crackdown.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors successful a 4-1 ballot declared an exigency successful effect to national migration raids, a determination usually reserved for earthy disasters oregon different conditions beyond the power of section officials.

The ballot allows Los Angeles County to enforce an eviction moratorium that would support renters from eviction for failing to wage rent if they tin beryllium they person been financially impacted by the migration raids. Such a moratorium would inactive request to beryllium voted connected by the board.

Renters would inactive beryllium that wealth to their landlord and would request to wage it erstwhile the moratorium expired. The declaration besides allows the region to petition funds from the authorities to supply much alleviation to those impacted by migration raids.

The proclamation said the tactics utilized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and different national agents person "created a clime of fear, starring to wide disruption successful regular beingness and adverse impacts to our determination economy."

The Trump medication has said the raids are lawful and meant to region immigrants successful the U.S. illegally from the country.

Los Angeles has been astatine the epicenter of Trump's efforts to deport immigrants. Trump successful June sent the National Guard and U.S. Marines into the metropolis to support national buildings and support ICE agents arsenic they carried retired raids, prompting wide protests successful the metropolis and county.

The Republican president has since attempted to deploy the National Guard into different Democratic cities, including Washington, Memphis, Chicago and Portland, starring to a big of ineligible challenges.

"We volition not basal by portion fearfulness and chaos dispersed passim our neighborhoods," Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, a co-author of the motion, said earlier the vote. "When our migrant neighbors are targeted, our full region feels it successful our workplaces, successful our schools and successful our homes."

A descent presumption made astatine past week's region supervisors gathering noted that specified a moratorium would inflict hardships connected landlords, and stated that the region expanding rent alleviation assistance to tenants could beryllium an alternative.

County officials contended the migration raids would lend to the nonaccomplishment of $275 cardinal successful gross home merchandise successful the authorities of California, citing a June survey by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute successful concern with the University of California, Merced.

(Reporting by Brad Brooks and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Stephen Coates)