After Jerry Brown vetoes California immigration bill, LAPD goes it alone

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Days after Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed controversial legislation that would have blunted federal deportation efforts, the Los Angeles Police Department has decided to set its own policy on illegal immigrants.

On Thursday, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck announced that hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested by his officers each year in low-level crimes would no longer be turned over to federal authorities for deportation.The policy is similar to a proposal called the Trust Act that Brown rejected this week.

As The Times’ Joel Rubin and Andrew Blankstein reported Friday, the new rules are the latest in a series of moves by Beck to redefine the LAPD’s position on immigration issues.

Earlier this year, the chief pushed through a controversial plan that limits the cases in which police officers impound vehicles of drivers operating without a license — a group consisting largely of illegal immigrants. And he came out in favor of issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

Brown vetoed state legislation Sunday that would have prohibited local law enforcement officials from detaining undocumented immigrants unless they had been convicted or charged with a serious or violent felony. The governor said the proposal was ‘fatally flawed’ because it omitted serious crimes, including child abuse and drug trafficking.

It would have been the first law of its kind in the nation. In his veto message, however, he pledged to work with lawmakers and revisit the issue.

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--Michael J. Mishak in Sacramento