Glendale, California—a city just outside of downtown Los Angeles—has officially severed its contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, caving to pressure from activists amid a wave of violent anti-ICE riots sweeping through the region.
For nearly two decades, Glendale’s police department housed ICE detainees under a federal contract. But after several days of chaos in nearby Los Angeles—where rioters torched vehicles, blocked freeways, and attacked federal agents—the city council abruptly voted to terminate the agreement.
City officials claimed the decision was about “public trust” and “local control,” not politics. But critics see it as another retreat by a California city more concerned with appeasing open-borders activists than supporting the rule of law.
Despite assurances that detainees received humane treatment, full medical care, and legal counsel while in custody, left-wing pressure groups accused the city of undermining California’s sanctuary policies. The ACLU and other activist organizations had long demanded Glendale drop its ICE agreement, even though no laws were broken and the contract complied with existing state guidelines.
The tipping point came as protests across the region grew increasingly hostile. Federal law enforcement faced coordinated attacks, and local leaders in cities like Los Angeles and Oakland ramped up criticism of ICE and the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Now, Glendale joins a growing list of California jurisdictions pulling back from cooperation with federal immigration enforcement—even as border apprehensions surge and migrant-linked unrest spills into major cities.
The message from city hall? In California, sanctuary politics still take priority over public safety.