Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto released a draft ordinance last week pushing for sanctuary status for the city, in lieu of Donald Trump's expected policies regarding deportations in his upcoming administration. "This moment demands urgency," said Bass through a statement on the city's official website, adding that "immigrant protections make our communities stronger and our city better."
The proposal seeks to codify protections that have existed informally in Los Angeles for years, including restrictions on Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers questioning immigration status or making arrests based on legal status, initially established through a 2019 executive directive by former Mayor Eric Garcetti.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted on the ordinance which would formally prohibit city resources and personnel from assisting federal immigration enforcement. According to local Eyewitness News, the vote is expected to be approved seamlessly, setting up a potential showdown with the Trump administration which has made deportations the cornerstone of its immigration policy.
The ordinance, in its final version, 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.
The push for sanctuary status in Los Angeles gained momentum after the elections when a downtown protest by immigrant rights advocates and community members raised concerns amid heightened anxieties in immigrant communities. Felipe Carceres of the Service Employees International Union, one of the protest's organizers, criticized the city for delaying action:
"This ordinance has been languishing for two years at City Council. [The city needs to] make sure that undocumented workers know that the city of L.A. is a place where we're not going to have collaboration with ICE for anything"
Newly-appointed "border czar" Thomas Homan has already made his position clear on the subject of sanctuary cities. During an appearance on Fox & Friends" last week, Homan, using New York City as an example of a sanctuary city said:
"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"
During the same interview, Homan also raised the possibility of withholding federal funding from cities that interfere with deportations.
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