Los Angeles officially becomes a sanctuary city

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The Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance on Tuesday to make Los Angeles a sanctuary city. The ordinance comes as a response to the recent threats by President-elect Donald Trump of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. California and Los Angeles County already have sanctuary policies. 

The ordinance will prohibit city employees and resources from collaborating with federal immigration agencies to make arrests and deportations. 

Although a motion was presented in 2023 by three council members, it hadn't moved forward until last week when Mayor Karen Bass called the City Council for swift action to enact such protections for immigrant communities in Los Angeles.

During the vote, Councilwoman Nithya Raman, co-author of the ordinance, said they began this process over a year ago, knowing that the future can’t be predicted and Angelenos need to be protected regardless of who is in office. 

“The time couldn’t be more important,” Raman said.

Co-author Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez said his parents were undocumented when he was a child, but back then, there was not the fear of deportation as it is now. 

“My parents were able to provide for our family, bought a house and became U.S. citizens over the years,” said the councilman.

He said the approval of the ordinance is necessary because everyone has a family member or knows someone who will be affected by the immigration policies Trump is proposing.  

Overwhelming support

During the public comment, dozens of speakers advocated for the ordinance. Many stated that city resources should be used for local issues instead of supporting mass deportations. Others said families should be protected from Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE). Latinos said if immigration rules are implemented, they could also be affected since the immigration agencies will focus mainly on the color of the skin. 

Representatives from several pro-immigrant organizations participated in a press conference before the vote, urging the  L.A. City Council to approve a sanctuary ordinance to ensure immigrant families across Los Angeles are protected, safe and feel welcome.

Reina Hernandez said the ordinance will make immigrant families feel safer knowing that they can trust local authorities without fearing their information being shared with federal agencies. 

Ivone Wheeler, president of the L.A. County Federation of Labor, said organizations such as hers must protect the immigrant community and stand against the hate and harm of the upcoming Trump administration.

“Our city cannot and will not submit to hate and fear that others shadow above us. We especially cannot allow ICE to target our immigrant communities in schools, places of worship, hospitals or any place in Los Angeles,” she said. 

Zenaida Meneces, an immigrant from Nicaragua, said Los Angeles has been a vital refugee for the immigrant community. As a thank you, they have been able to work hard to make significant progress in the city throughout the years. 

“Now our community is being threatened again after the reelection of Donald Trump,” she said, encouraging the City Council to stand with the immigrant community.

“We want to continue using social services without fearing that the federal government will have access to our information,” said Meneces. “We have to be able to call the police and the firefighters without fearing our immigration status.” 

What does it mean to be a 'sanctuary'

A sanctuary jurisdiction includes a policy, written or unwritten, that discourages local law enforcement from reporting undocumented immigrants to immigration unless it involves an investigation of a serious crime, states the non-profit Global Refuge. 

In 2018, California passed the California Values Act, also known as the “state sanctuary law,” which directs all counties and municipalities in California to exercise what are commonly known as "sanctuary” policies. This means that public employees like law enforcement officers cannot notify the federal government when the immigration status of residents in their communities might be subject to question.

In 2020, Los Angeles County approved an ordinance to make the county a sanctuary jurisdiction, and in 2017, former Mayor Eric Garcetti signed an executive order with policies to protect undocumented immigrants. However, the order was never codified into municipal law. 

While more jurisdictions are passing sanctuary ordinances, the American Immigration Council states that sanctuary policies do not conceal or shelter undocumented immigrants from detection. Neither do they shield immigrants from deportation or prosecution for criminal activities. 

While the Supreme Court has made clear that it is not a crime for an undocumented immigrant to remain in the country, state and local police can still enforce state and local criminal laws against immigrants who are accused of committing a crime in sanctuary jurisdictions, indicated the AIC on a statement.

Research by the National Academy of Sciences analyzed FBI crime data and ICE deportation data between 2010 and 2015 and found that sanctuary policies did not affect crime rates in such jurisdictions.