The City Council is expected to consider ratifying an order Tuesday that Mayor Karen Bass used to enact a curfew in downtown Los Angeles, a decision prompted by vandalism and looting during protests over immigration enforcement.
The full City Council will make a determination whether the mayor’s declaration of a local emergency will continue and whether to ratify it in some way.
On Monday, Bass updated the curfew hours that had been in effect since last week. The curfew is now in effect from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., affecting the Civic Center, Chinatown, Little Tokyo and the Fashion and Arts districts, among other areas in downtown.
Bass cited “successful crime prevention and suppression efforts” as the reason for the shift in the curfew’s start time.
City Council members Ysabel Jurado and Eunisses Hernandez, who represent neighborhoods within the curfew zone, supported the mayor’s decision.
Jurado called it a “step in the right direction.” Hernandez said the city will remain focused on protecting the immigrant community and defending the constitutional rights of all Angelenos.
On Friday, Bass said there was no “termination date” for the curfew, and reported that it was “making a difference” in curtailing criminal activity.
Protests erupted on June 6 after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began detaining migrants in the city. While most demonstrations have remained peaceful, police and city officials said that some gatherings turned destructive after dark, with looting and vandalism blamed on so-called “bad actors.”’
On the fifth day of protests, Bass declared a local emergency in downtown and imposed the curfew.
“We are hoping that if the cause of the turmoil ends, which is stopping the raids, then I can almost guarantee you that curfew will go away,” Bass previously said.
Immigration enforcement operations were expected to continue this week in the Southland amid Trump administration guidance focusing on cities run by elected Democrats, while cutting back on enforcement at farms, hotels and restaurants.