The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a so-called “sanctuary city” ordinance that bars city resources from being used for immigration enforcement and city departments from sharing information on people without legal status with federal immigration authorities, in anticipation of potential mass deportations under President-elect Donald Trump.
Councilmembers voted unanimously on the measure, joining more than a dozen cities across the United States with similar provisions. Sanctuary cities or states are not legal terms but have come to symbolize a pledge to protect and support immigrant communities and decline to voluntarily supply information to immigration enforcement officials. Advocates say they are havens for immigrants to feel safe and be able to report crime without fear of deportation.
The measure will come back to the council for a second vote as a formality. Mayor Karen Bass, who has the power to veto it, has said she supports the ordinance.
“We’re going to send a very clear message that the city of Los Angeles will not cooperate with ICE in any way,” said councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. “We want people to feel protected and be able to have faith in their government and that women can report domestic violence, crimes.”
Soto-Martinez, one of the council members who introduced the initial motion last year, said his parents and many of his constituents are immigrants without legal status. They are “embedded in the larger community,” from cooking and cleaning houses to working as nannies, he said.
But it’s unclear how much will change under the ordinance since the city already does not cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
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