The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced Saturday it will relocate its regional office from Los Angeles due to the city's lack of cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In response to an X post Friday by Mayor Karen Bass, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the agency will "immediately" be moving out of the L.A. area.
"Los Angeles is openly refusing to cooperate with ICE - siding with illegal aliens over American citizens and small businesses. Therefore, effective immediately, @SBAgov will begin relocating its Regional Office out of L.A.," Loeffler wrote in an X post.
"If a city won’t protect its people, we won’t stay."
"Death to ICE" is written on a dumpster after multiple detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in downtown Los Angeles Friday. (Reuters/Daniel Cole / Reuters)
Multiple people were detained by immigration agents Friday as seven locations in Los Angeles were raided, bringing the weekly total of illegal immigrant arrests to nearly 120.
In response, violent protests broke out across the county, including an attempted break-in at the Roybal Federal Building. The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond for several hours despite receiving multiple calls.
Police detain a protester blocking a garage entrance to the Los Angeles Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles Friday. (Reuters/Daniel Cole / Reuters)
More than 1,000 rioters surrounded the building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires and defaced buildings and taxpayer-funded property, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
"The violent targeting of law enforcement in Los Angeles by lawless rioters is despicable, and Mayor Bass and Governor Newsom must call for it to end," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote in a statement. "From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is beyond the pale. This violence against ICE must end."
Protesters blocking a garage entrance to the Los Angeles Federal Building react as police fire pepper spray at them in downtown Los Angeles Saturday. (Reuters/Daniel Cole / Reuters)
In a statement Friday, Bass criticized federal immigration enforcement actions in Los Angeles.
"As mayor of a proud city of immigrants who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place," Bass said. "These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. My office is in close coordination with immigrant rights community organizations. We will not stand for this."
As of Saturday night, Bass had yet to denounce violent riots in her jurisdiction and safety concerns raised by federal authorities.
The mayor's office did not immediately respond to Fox Business' request for comment.