Los Angeles mayor lifts curfew imposed after immigration raids, protests

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday lifted a curfew imposed on part of the city’s downtown to curb crime in the wake of raids on undocumented migrants that prompted protests.

The restriction on people’s movements went into place last Tuesday, affecting about one square mile of the city’s downtown between 8 pm local time and 6 am the following morning.

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On Monday, Bass said the curfew would be reduced, with a later start time of 10pm, as acts of violence, vandalism and looting had markedly declined. On Tuesday, it fully ended.

“The curfew, coupled with ongoing crime prevention efforts, have been largely successful in protecting stores, restaurants, businesses and residential communities from bad actors who do not care about the immigrant community,” she said in a statement.

The heightened immigration enforcement in the city prompted the strongest backlash to President Donald Trump since he returned to power in January, pitting the Republican enacting a campaign pledge to deport immigrants against Democratic leaders in California who opposed the tactics.