Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors has now formally approved an ordinance aimed at establishing so-called “ICE-free zones” on county property, a move being sold as community protection but already teetering into dangerous political theater. The real alarm bell came when Supervisor Lindsey Horvath took that agenda to FOX LA, where she confirmed on-air that Sheriff’s deputies will arrest ICE agents if they stage operations on county property, a stunning admission that transforms this from symbolic sanctuary posturing into a direct conflict directive with federal law enforcement, with deputies left standing in the crossfire.
Not long after the ordinance passed and Horvath’s comments hit the airwaves, the response from the law enforcement community was immediate, and openly defiant. LASD deputies and members of other agencies across LA County made it clear they have no intention of enforcing the new ordinance, with many signaling they will simply ignore it outright.
On January 16th, The Current Report received an anonymous “Just a Deputy” letter, which reads like a warning from inside the machine: a blunt, frustrated account of what happens when the Board plays ideological hardball and LASD leadership stays silent.
The letter captures what deputies are now being forced to confront, that this ordinance isn’t just a headline or a talking point, it’s a real-world order that is not only illegal, it could place them in direct conflict with federal agents, exposing them to violence, discipline, and lawsuits, or worse, while the politicians who engineered it remain safely behind microphones.
“Let’s stop pretending this is anything other than a dangerous political stunt.
The LA County Board of Supervisors has crossed from policy into reckless rhetoric, and Supervisor Horvath’s claim that ICE is committing “kidnappings” is not just absurd, it is irresponsible. That kind of language is how people get hurt. It is how confrontations are encouraged. It is how activists feel justified in inserting themselves into federal operations. And when that happens, it is never the politicians who pay the price. It is deputies. It is agents. It is people on the ground.
You can believe whatever you want about what happened in Minneapolis or anywhere else. The point is not tactics or actions. The fact is that politicians pouring gasoline on inflammatory narratives create the conditions for violence, then act shocked when reality shows up. Calling lawful federal enforcement “kidnapping” is not leadership. It is chest-beating, headline-chasing nonsense.
Federal agents believe they are acting lawfully. Deputies know that. The Board knows that. And yet they are intentionally creating an ordinance that puts deputies directly in the middle of a conflict they do not have the authority to win. That is not public safety. That is a cowardly delegation of risk.
And where is the Sheriff in all of this?
Sheriff Luna has been silent when deputies needed immediate, unambiguous leadership. There should have been a clear, department-wide message stating that deputies will not be used as pawns, will not be ordered into unconstitutional confrontations, and will be protected if this ordinance collides with federal authority. Instead, we got nothing.
Worse, we are watching this department be run through nepotism and insulation at the top. The Sheriff’s Chief of Staff, Sergio Escobedo, and his wife, the Captain of SIB Escobedo, have done precisely what insiders always do — protect the optics, toe the line, protect the politics, insulate the Sheriff, and leave the line personnel exposed. No guidance. No clarity. No reassurance. Just silence while deputies are left guessing how much personal risk the department expects them to absorb.
That silence is dangerous.
This ordinance is dangerous.
This rhetoric is dangerous.
And the failure to immediately protect deputies is unacceptable.
So let me be absolutely clear, since leadership will not say it:
I will not enforce this ordinance against federal immigration officers.
I will not obstruct, detain, or arrest federal agents because politicians want a narrative.
I will not be sacrificed to protect political relationships or careers.
If the Board wants to fight federal immigration law, it can do so in Congress. If the Sheriff wants to lead, he needs to do so now, not after someone gets hurt, charged, or ruined.
Be politicians if that is what you want to be.
But stop using deputies as pawns.
I am not the one!
– Just a Deputy”
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