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Whittier residents demand council action after reported ICE operations; call for sanctuary protections and rapid-response supports
Summary
Dozens of residents urged the Whittier City Council to condemn recent federal immigration enforcement activity, to declare the city a sanctuary jurisdiction, and to direct city staff and police to protect residents and children. Councilmembers said staff would prepare joint public materials but took no formal legislative action.
Dozens of residents used the public-comment period at a Whittier City Council meeting to demand that the city act after reported federal immigration enforcement operations in the area.
Speakers described masked agents detaining people in public spaces, said operations were happening near children and libraries, and called on the council to declare Whittier a sanctuary city, stop city cooperation with ICE, remove surveillance-camera access that residents say federal agents use, and create rapid-response and legal defense supports for impacted families.
Catherine Lerman, a Whittier resident, said her 5‑year‑old son had a “close encounter” with agents staged at the Whittier Public Library parking lot and called the deployments “a reckless operation that jeopardized innocent lives.” Pancho, another…
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