Mayor Karen Bass speaks at a prayer vigil in Grand Park as a curfew goes into effect after days of protests in Los Angeles on June 10, 2025. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
"I don’t know if there’s a deal to be made. Like I told you, the deal that needs to be made is for them to go home," the Democrat said.
ICE directly responded, noting that they will continue their operations in the city and in the region.
"ICE isn't going anywhere and will continue to do what Mayor Bass has utterly failed to do – protect the citizens of Los Angeles. If she wants distance from federal law enforcement, I'm sure there is an upcoming diplomatic trip to Ghana," Emily Covington, assistant director, ICE Office of Public Affairs, said in a statement to Fox News.
LA MAYOR HITS BACK AT TRUMP MARINE DEPLOYMENTS SAYING 'WE DON'T WANT THEM HERE'
A rioter waves a Mexican national flag next to a car on fire during a protest following federal immigration operations in the Compton neighborhood of Los Angeles on June 7, 2025. (Getty Images)
The mayor re-entered the national spotlight in June as anti-ICE protests and riots broke out in the city, amid news that the agency was conducting illegal immigration sweeps in the area. President Donald Trump then deployed the National Guard, which resulted in a legal challenge from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Bass said ICE and the National Guard served as instigators for the civil unrest, which she condemned the violent elements of while encouraging peaceful protest.
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"Last Thursday, ICE entered our city and provoked the city by chasing people through Home Depots and car washes and showing up at schools and, today, showing up at emergency rooms and homeless shelters," Bass said last month.
"ICE intervened as a pretext to federalize the National Guard, and then, in the White House, the National Guard was complimented for the work that they did to keep peace in the city Saturday night. But I will tell you, the Guard didn't even arrive here until Sunday. They used this as a pretext to send the U.S. Marines into an American city, which will target our own citizens," she added.
Cameron Arcand is a politics writer at Fox News Digital in Washington D.C. Story tips can be sent to Cameron.Arcand@Fox.com and on Twitter: @cameron_arcand
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ice-flips-script-los-angeles-mayor-after-telling-authorities-go-home