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In the face of President-elect Donald Trump’s promised mass illegal deportation of domestic immigrants, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday tentatively supported a “sanctuary city” law that would bar city officials and employees from involvement in federal immigration enforcement. .
The legislation, which passed unanimously, was amended during the board meeting and will require a second vote within the next few days.
The law does not prevent the federal government from carrying out mass deportations in Los Angeles. Still, it’s meant to show that City Hall stands with immigrants in droves in a deep blue city already well known for resisting Trump.
Also Tuesday, the Los Angeles Board of Education recognized the nation’s second-largest school system as a sanctuary for immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community.
City Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who represents the central San Fernando Valley, said Tuesday that the city is “hardening up” in preparation for the election of President Trump.
“We know we have a target on our back from this president-elect,” Blumenfield said.
President Trump has promised to deport vast numbers of illegal immigrants in the United States and said he will deploy the military as well as state and local law enforcement.
President Trump deported about 1.5 million immigrants during his last presidential term, and the Biden administration is on pace to match that, according to an analysis of federal statistics by the Migration Policy Institute. The former Trump administration tried to withhold funding from Los Angeles, citing the city’s long-standing policy of not allowing police officers to participate in immigration enforcement.
President Trump said during his recent campaign that he would ask Congress to pass a law outlawing sanctuary cities across the country.
The LA Sanctuary City Act was proposed in early 2023, long before President Trump’s election, and is intended to create a firewall between federal immigration enforcement and city officials.
Under the law, city employees and city property cannot be used to “investigate, designate, arrest, detain, remove, or detain any person for immigration purposes.”
City employees may not solicit or collect information regarding an individual’s citizenship or immigration status, except for information necessary to provide City services. Any data or information that can be used to track an individual’s citizenship or immigration status must be treated as confidential.
At the same time, the city must comply with any valid warrant or other applicable order issued by a federal or state judge.
The law would have little practical effect because Los Angeles already draws a line between city officials and immigration authorities. The LAPD has been in place since 1979, prohibiting officers from contacting individuals solely to determine their immigration status.
In proposing the legislation, City Council members Unis Hernandez, Hugo Sotomartinez and Nitya Raman called for respecting an order enacted several years ago by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Learn more Tuesday about how the Sanctuary City Act intersects with Los Angeles Police Department policies and the three departments that operate independently from other departments of city government: Water and Power, Port of Los Angeles, and Los Angeles World Airports. I still have doubts.
An amendment proposed Tuesday calls for city officials to report on how the Los Angeles Police Department and three departments could adopt their own laws.
Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Sgt. William Cooper told the Times on Tuesday that the new sanctuary law also applies to police.
About 800,000 of Los Angeles County’s roughly 10 million residents lacked legal status in 2023, according to the USC Equity Institute. According to the institute, more than 70% have been in the country for more than 10 years.
Already, a state law pushed by then-state Sen. Kevin de Leon, now a city councilman who recently lost re-election, would allow local police to cooperate with federal immigration authorities unless they have been convicted of certain crimes. are restricted from doing so.
De Leon told the City Council Tuesday that he is the youngest child of an immigrant mother who entered the country illegally and has a third-grade education.
“She is a woman who is more American than anyone else,” de Leon said, slamming Congress for failing to pass comprehensive immigration legislation.
While Mr. de Leon supported the new law, he warned that he “didn’t want to mislead people” into thinking that “special forces” would protect them from deportation to Los Angeles.
Critics of the law pointed to Trump’s election and former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman’s recent victory in his incumbent Los Angeles township. Atty. Georges Gascon is proof that voters want stronger law enforcement. (California favored Harris over Trump.)
Ira Melman, a spokeswoman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which supports stricter immigration controls, said the council is “ignoring a very clear message from voters.”
“Voters are saying they’ve had enough of lawlessness,” Melman said. “And the Los Angeles City Council doesn’t seem to get that message.”
“A country without secure borders is no country at all,” said Roxanne Hoge, communications director for the Los Angeles County Republican Party. “So-called sanctuary cities and states sound warm and fuzzy, but the protection they offer is not for abuelas buying ice cream, but for people who enter the country illegally and commit further crimes. ”
Representatives of Trump’s transition team did not respond to requests for comment.
Dozens of immigrant advocates and labor leaders gathered outside the City Council chambers before Tuesday’s vote, urging the city council to pass a sanctuary city law modeled after the 1989 San Francisco law.
Mauri Tagbeño, acting executive director of the San Francisco Commission on Human Rights, told the Times that in the city, the law strengthens trust between immigrant communities and local government, allows immigrants to report crimes without fear of deportation, and empowers immigrants to report crimes without fear of deportation. He said he now has access to services.
Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement that she looks forward to “reviewing the final ordinance and continuing our efforts to keep all Angelenos safe.”
“Los Angeles will always stand together, especially with our immigrant communities,” Bass said. “We have been clear in recent weeks that the City of Los Angeles protects all Angeleno residents, and that is exactly what we will do. Many of the immigrant protections here in Los Angeles have been in place for decades. Today’s action strengthens our commitment to protecting immigrant communities and keeping all Angelenos safe.”
Tuesday’s vote marks the latest chapter in City Hall’s uneven efforts to declare itself a sanctuary city. In 1985, a divided City Council adopted a resolution declaring Los Angeles a sanctuary city for immigrants fleeing political persecution and violence, particularly refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala.
However, one City Council member threatened to take a voting action to overturn the resolution, prompting the City Council to remove the word “sanctuary.”
After President Trump’s election in 2016, some Los Angeles City Council members introduced a resolution to declare Los Angeles a “sanctuary city.” However, this resolution took two years to be adopted. By then, immigration advocates argued, it had lost its meaning.
Hernandez, who represents areas near downtown with large immigrant populations, such as Pico Union, said Tuesday’s step to codify the city’s policy is significant.
“It’s going to be enshrined forever, and that’s important,” Hernandez said. “Because that means you can’t easily switch from one government to another without considerable effort.”
Times staff writer Andrea Castillo contributed to this report.
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