The city of Glendale announced Sunday that it plans to end its contract with the Department of Homeland Security, which allowed ICE to house immigration detainees at Glendale City Jail.
Glendale Mayor Ara Najarian told KNX News the decision was not unanimous.
“I felt that canceling this contract was a political reaction based on uninformed activists who really don't understand the role Glendale jail was playing in the process,” he said.
Najarian claimed Glendale played a “very humanitarian role” in the detention of immigrants, pointing to the fact that detainees at the jail were allowed to have visitors and access to healthcare.
“The alternative is to be placed in the basement of the federal detention facility, which the ACLU has complained about, which the immigrant rights defenders have complained about, or to be shipped out to another county, perhaps another state – to Texas or whatnot – where the whereabouts of a loved one or a client of an attorney would be unknown,” he said.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
In an X post, Homeland Security called the decision “deeply disturbing” and accused the city’s officials of standing with “criminal illegal aliens, including gang members, rapists, and murderers over American citizens.”
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok