In a unanimous vote drenched in virtue-signaling and contempt for federal authority, the LA County Board of Supervisors approved a motion to draft an ordinance establishing so-called “ICE-free zones” on county-owned property. Because if there’s one thing LA County’s political elite loves more than public safety, it’s the optics of defiance, especially when they’re defying laws they don’t actually have the power to override.
This sanctuary stunt, led by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Chair Hilda Solis, isn’t about protecting communities. It’s a political flex disguised as compassion, a progressive purity test wrapped in bureaucratic language. They want to ban a federal agency from parks, clinics, buildings, and other public spaces, while pretending the real threat isn’t violent crime, trafficking, fentanyl networks, or repeat offenders, it’s immigration enforcement itself.
Horvath declared LA County “will not allow our public property to be used by ICE to cause harm,” as if ICE is running around assaulting innocent people for sport. It’s an activist talking point, not a governing principle. But it plays well to a base that sees law enforcement as inherently abusive and borders as morally suspicious. The Board isn’t interested in nuance. They want a headline. They want a viral clip. They want to prove they’re still “resisting.”
This ordinance isn’t about protecting the citizens, it’s reckless escalation, written in soft language so nobody has to feel responsible when it goes wrong. Even more alarming, it puts sheriff’s deputies in imminent danger by creating the perfect storm for on-scene chaos and career-ending conflicts where deputies could be forced into direct confrontation with armed federal agents.
The motion passed on January 13, 2026, and now county counsel has 30 days to produce the ordinance. It would include posting “keep out” signage on county properties, erecting physical barriers like locked gates, and forcing ICE to jump through a permit hoops unless they have a judicial warrant or claim “exigent circumstances.” In other words, LA County’s solution to federal law enforcement is to post a sign and hope the Constitution doesn’t notice.
Horvath cited an October 2025 ICE operation at Deane Dana Friendship Park in San Pedro, where ICE agents arrested three individuals and allegedly threatened parks staff. She described it as “violence caused by the Trump administration,” which is the standard narrative: enforcement is violence, criminals are victims, and anyone who supports deporting criminal aliens is apparently running a hate campaign. Conveniently omitted is the fact that ICE operations don’t exist in a vacuum. They are aimed at enforcing federal law, and often target individuals with serious criminal histories. But details aren’t the point here. Emotion is.
Horvath ordered deputies to arrest federal agents as seen in a viral news clip. But anyone with an IQ above room temperature can see the trap being built. If ICE violates this ordinance, who is expected to enforce it? The Sheriff’s Department. That’s the whole game. The Board writes the policy, hands it to LASD, and then watches from the sidelines while deputies get stuck in the middle of a constitutional conflict the county cannot win.
The ordinance sets up a reporting system requiring county employees to alert supervisors and county counsel to any “unauthorized” ICE activity on county property. That sounds harmless on paper, until you realize what it invites in real life: panic calls, political interference, and pressure to “do something.” In the heat of a federal operation, “reporting” becomes obstruction. Obstruction becomes confrontation. And confrontation becomes a legal and physical liability for the men and women in uniform.
Federal prosecutors are already warning that no local jurisdiction can bar federal agents from public spaces, and anyone obstructing them, including county employees, could face arrest and federal charges. That isn’t rhetoric. That is law. The Supremacy Clause is real. Federal authority isn’t optional. LA County can posture all it wants, but it cannot legally nullify federal enforcement. Which means the Board is knowingly pushing a policy that could force deputies into an impossible position: obey the county and risk federal charges, or obey federal authority and become the political scapegoat.
This isn’t speculation. It’s history repeating itself, right here in LA County. The Board should be reminded of the LASD Paul Tanaka scandal, when the former undersheriff ordered deputies to obstruct FBI agents investigating abuses in the jails. Deputies were told to intimidate federal agents, interfere with investigations, and threaten arrest. Those deputies were federally charged and convicted for obstruction of justice. Tanaka went to prison. Careers were destroyed. The political class survived just fine.
That dark chapter should be a warning to Sheriff Robert Luna and his command staff. The Board of Supervisors will not be standing next to deputies when federal charges get filed. They’ll be giving interviews about “compassion” while deputies pay the price.
And let’s not pretend this is about “harm reduction.” LA County has spent years weakening enforcement, sabotaging recruitment, driving deputy vacancies into crisis territory, and publicly signaling that criminals deserve endless grace while the public gets endless excuses. Sanctuary policies have already created real consequences, including emboldened criminal behavior and a growing distrust that government actually cares about law-abiding residents. Now the Board wants to escalate into open defiance of federal enforcement while pretending it won’t have consequences.
Conservatives understand something LA County leadership refuses to admit: borders matter. Interior enforcement matters. Deporting criminal aliens matters. Under President Trump’s renewed focus on removing criminal offenders, ICE is doing the job Californians deserve, even if LA County politicians are offended by reality. But instead of cooperating with lawful enforcement, this Board is choosing to obstruct it, creating obstacles that embolden cartels and traffickers while advertising LA County as a safe haven for anyone who can get here.
The truth is simple. This ordinance isn’t courage. It’s activism disguised as policy. And it isn’t enforceable in any meaningful way without turning deputies into pawns in a dangerous showdown with federal agents.
LA County “leaders” DO NOT prioritize officer safety and constitutional reality over ideological posturing. This “ICE-free zone” ordinance is a ticking time bomb. And when it detonates, the Board will do what it always does: blame everyone else while the people they used as props pay the consequences.
Follow Us