LA City Council introduces policies to protect immigrants without legal status

The Los Angeles City Council proposed new legislative policy Feb. 4 that would strengthen labor and immigration protections.

The policy includes a citywide “Know Your Rights” campaign for immigrants without legal status, city notifications about United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence and nonprofit legal aid at LAX. The council also proposed a resolution urging the City of LA to support any California legislation that would increase funding for protections against deportation, as well as a separate motion for legal services funding, according to a press release from City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez’s office.

This proposal builds on the council’s unanimous November ordinance that established LA as a “sanctuary city,” preventing city resources from being used for federal immigration policy enforcement. The ordinance included an urgency clause that put it into effect Dec. 19.

These policies are designed to respond to recent Trump administration executive orders ending birthright citizenship and increasing ICE’s presence across the nation, District 1 Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez said in a press conference.

One of the best ways immigrant workers without legal status can protect themselves and their families is through knowing their rights, Hernandez said at the press conference. She added at the press conference that LA must put more effort toward protecting its immigrant community.

“Entire economies, workforces are on the backs of immigrants – are literally thriving because of the hands and works of immigrants,” Hernandez said at the press conference. “We must do more if we are serious about being a sanctuary city.”

Niels Frenzen, co-director of the USC Gould School of Law’s immigration clinic, said policies must be practical in addition to symbolic, and they should aim to make it safe for people without legal status to interact with authorities, fire departments or medical professionals.

“It is not good for society as a whole to have … one (population) totally in the shadows when it comes to public safety and to public health,” Frenzen said.