Los Angeles declares itself an immigration ‘sanctuary’
Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the U.S., is preparing for a confrontation with President-elect Donald Trump over immigration policies.
On Tuesday, the city’s council passed a “sanctuary city” ordinance that prohibits the use of local resources to assist federal immigration authorities.
Additionally, LA’s public school system reaffirmed its commitment as a “sanctuary” for undocumented immigrants and LGBTQ students through a series of emergency resolutions.
Trump, who will take office in two months, has vowed to carry out mass deportations when he assumes the presidency. His appointed “border czar,” Tim Homan, has called on sanctuary cities to “get the hell out of the way” of federal immigration enforcement.
The term “sanctuary city” has been in use in the U.S. for over a decade to describe places that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Though not a formal legal term, cities have adopted various approaches to becoming sanctuaries, such as enacting laws or altering local policing practices.
The city’s sanctuary city ordinance, designed to codify a 2019 executive order into local law, prevents the use of city resources for immigration enforcement, including cooperation with federal immigration agents, according to NBC News Los Angeles.
Council member Nithya Raman explained ahead of the vote that the ordinance will “prevent federal immigration enforcement from being able to access city facilities or use city resources in the pursuit of immigration enforcement,” as reported by CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. partner.
It will also prohibit some data sharing between immigration authorities and city officials and agencies.
The ordinance will go into effect once it has been signed by Mayor Karen Bass.
Officials in a number of other cities, including Boston and New York City, have similarly promised that local resources would not be allocated to helping federal immigration enforcement issues.
Since Trump was elected the first time, dozens of school districts have declared themselves “sanctuaries” or “safe havens” to reassure students they will not be deported.
The Los Angeles school district – roughly 140 miles (225km) from the country’s southern border with Mexico – also voted on a series of emergency resolutions explicitly aimed at combatting what the board’s president, Jackie Goldberg, has described as an anti-immigrant and LGBTQ sentiment from the incoming president.
As well as restating a sanctuary policy for students and families within the school district, the resolution also calls for training for teachers and staff about how they should communicate with immigration authorities.
“We’re not going to be running in fear,” she said in quotes cited by the LA Times ahead of the resolution’s passing. “We’re going to fight you, every inch of the way.”
The move is likely to put the city on a collision course with the incoming Trump administration, which has vowed it will begin a large-scale mass deportation effort from the very beginning of the administration.
Trump’s chosen “border czar”, former acting Immigrations and Customs Enforcement director Tom Homan, has repeatedly said that “sanctuary” city designations would not prevent the administration from carrying out its immigration policy goals.
In an 11 November interview with Fox, Homan said “nothing will stop us from deporting migrant criminals.”
“We’re going to do the job with you, or without you,” he said.
