The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday adopted a sanctuary city ordinance that prohibits the use of city resources in immigration enforcement, including cooperating with federal immigration agents as the incoming Trump administration hints at immigration crackdown.
The city council passed the motion unanimously to codify the protective measures after City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto and Mayor Karen Bass expedited the draft ordinance last week.
Because the measure was passed with an urgency clause, the sanctuary city statute will go into effect immediately as soon as Mayor Bass gives final approval following a few additional procedures.
While former Mayor Eric Garcetti issued an executive directive in 2019 to protect immigrants, and the LAPD officers are already prohibited from asking people’s immigration status when making arrests, Tuesday’s ordinance, which was initially proposed in 18 months ago, will officially put the sanctuary policy in the city’s books.
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"We know often members of our immigration community – even without this (Trump) administration – have lived in fear and have consequently among the highest rates of underreporting of crime, assaults or violence," Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said. "We don’t have a safer city if people are living in fear and hiding in the shadows and unable to come forward and cooperate with law enforcement in manners that we need them to particularly because we want to keep them safe."
Incoming City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents part of South Los Angeles, that codifying the city's sanctuary city status to maintain "peace" and "productivity."
"In my district, a house catches on fire, and no one calls the fire department because nobody wants to invite the government in and risk deportation," Harris-Dawson said. "(The ordinance) codifies that and puts us in a position to scaffold and build up on that to maintain Los Angeles as the kind of place where we can all live in peace, we can continue our productivity and where we can lead the nation as a city of immigrants."
The newly approved ordinance would also prohibit “any city resources, property or personnel from being utilized for any federal immigration enforcement,'' as well as city cooperation with federal immigration authorities in “execution of their duties'' as it pertains to immigration enforcement.
It would also prohibit Los Angeles officials and agencies from directly or indirectly sharing data with immigration authorities.
Newly appointed Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell has said the department would not engage in immigration enforcement. He has remained steadfast in that position.
Last week, Tom Homan, who has been tapped to be Trump's new "border czar,'' said during an appearance on "Fox & Friends'' that "Nothing will stop us from deporting migrant criminals.''
Homan addressed sanctuary jurisdictions, using New York City as an example and noting that, ``If we can't get assistance from New York City, we may have to double the number of agents we send to New York City. Because we're
going to the job with you or without you.''
He also suggested that the president withhold federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions.
While Trump representatives did not immediately comment on the prospect of Los Angeles passing a sanctuary ordinance, Roxanne Hoge, communications director for the L.A. County Republican Party, last week
criticized the concept of sanctuary cities and states.
"A country without secure borders isn't a country at all,'' Hoge said in a statement. "The protections they offer aren't for abuelas (grandmothers) getting ice cream, they're for people who've entered the country illegally and committed additional crimes. Whether drunk driving, robbery, sexual violence, assault or murder, none of those should go unpunished,'' she added. "Perpetrators should definitely not be protected by the largesse taken from hard-working
taxpayers.''
City News Service contributed to this report.
