Mayor Bass Issues Statement Following Reports of Planned Withdrawal By U.S. Marines: “This is another win for Los Angeles”

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass July 21 issued the following statement following reports that U.S. Marines would be withdrawing from Los Angeles: 

“This is another win for Los Angeles but this is also a win for those serving this country in uniform,” said Mayor Bass. “Just this morning I stood with Veterans, families of active duty officers, and business leaders to show the impact of this unnecessary, unprecedented, and unconstitutional assault on our city. We took the administration to court and won, now we continue that momentum with today’s news. Los Angeles stands with our troops, which is why we are glad they are leaving.” 

Reports of the Marine withdrawal followed a press conference this morning led by Mayor Bass and California State Senator and U.S. Marine Corps Veteran Caroline Menjivar to highlight the impact the deployment has had on the troops, their families, local businesses and Veterans themselves. The event was hosted at the Veteran Resource Center of Los Angeles Mission College and was attended by business leaders, organizations and organizers. Each speaker was either a Veteran or had an active-duty member of the military in their family. Los Angeles Community College District Chancellor Dr. Alberto Roman highlighted the significance of the Resource Center, where Veteran students are assisted throughout the year.

“I stood in solidarity this morning with my Marine brothers and sisters, demanding that we release our servicemembers from this charade of a deployment,” said Senator Menjivar. “We need to return the trust and dependability that our armed forces have earned from our community. We will not get used to this, this will not be our norm, and the Pentagon just now announcing withdrawing the Marines is the only way to honor their service.”

Since the beginning of these reckless raids, Mayor Bass has: 

• Signed an executive directive to support Los Angeles’ immigrant communities in the wake of unlawful raids conducted by the federal government. She has instructed City Departments to bolster their protocols and training to prepare for federal immigration activity occurring on City property, establishes an LAPD working group and expands access to resources for impacted families. The order also seeks records from the federal government on unlawful raids from federal agencies.
• Taken legal action to put a stop to the unconstitutional reckless raids in the LA region in coordination with LA City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto and regional Mayors in Los Angeles County. This resulted in a temporary restraining order by a federal judge.
• Met with children who had to leave MacArthur Park because of a military-style operation designed to strike fear.
• Visited businesses in Boyle Heights, Westlake, Pico-Union and Little Tokyo that have been economically impacted by this assault on Los Angeles.
• Organized Angelenos, community leaders and elected officials for Shine LA to revitalize areas vandalized by the individuals that took advantage of the chaos created by the federal government.
• Led more than one hundred labor, business and community leaders and immigrant rights groups calling for an end to immigration raids.
• Hosted webinars to make resources and information available to impacted businesses in collaboration with Councilmember Ysabel Jurado and City departments.
• Met with the Consul General of Mexico in Los Angeles and the Mayor of Morelia to find ways to work together in support of Angelenos who have been impacted by the reckless raids.