Citing worries about potential federal immigration enforcement, the city of Pasadena canceled swimming lessons and other recreational activities at three of its parks on Saturday.
According to municipal spokesperson Lisa Derderian, the decision was made after social media images appeared to reveal federal enforcement activities at Villa Parke, a city park one block north of the 210 Freeway.
The city stated in a social media post that programs at Villa Parke, Robinson Park, and Victory Park were canceled out of caution to prevent the possible escalation of tension that unexpected federal enforcement activities causes.
The Times’ questions were not immediately answered by representatives of the Customs Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement departments.
California
Some elected leaders in Los Angeles County expressed indignation after hearing reports of federal agents holding people at a bus stop close to a Winchell’s Donut House in Pasadena.
The city made the news a few days after federal investigators arrested individuals at a bus stop a few blocks from Villa Parke at the intersection of Orange Grove Boulevard and Los Robles Avenue. Politicians, including U.S. Representative Judy Chu, whose congressional district includes Pasadena, responded angrily to that operation.
Chu claimed that in a videotaped incident, an unnamed agent aimed a revolver at a man who was attempting to record the agent’s car plate.
She claimed that once the young man took a video of that license plate, the ICE agent leaped out the car and held a revolver as if he were going to shoot him. It’s ridiculous.
This report was written by Rong-Gong Lin II, a staff writer for the Times.
