In response to President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to carry out mass deportations, Los Angeles is taking steps to formally become a “sanctuary city.” The city is drafting an ordinance that would prohibit the use of city funds and resources to support federal immigration-related investigations and arrests.
Mayor Karen Bass met with immigrant rights groups over the weekend to discuss the proposed ordinance, which City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto is set to draft. The proposal, approved by the City Council more than a year ago, aims to restrict city staff, property, and resources from aiding federal immigration enforcement, including actions like gathering information on individuals’ immigration status or notifying federal authorities about the release or detention of undocumented immigrants.
The draft of the ordinance was made public late Tuesday, and it is expected to be voted on at a future council meeting.
Trump’s campaign promises included what he described as the largest deportation effort in U.S. history. He has tapped Tom Homan, the former head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation branch under the Obama administration, to be his “border czar.” Homan, who also served as acting ICE director during Trump’s first term, was involved in the policy that led to the separation of migrant children from their families.
Since Trump’s last term, the debate over U.S. border security has intensified. Democratic leaders have increasingly advocated for stricter measures, with a bipartisan border security deal signed earlier this year and discussed at the Democratic National Convention. A CBS News poll from earlier this year found that nearly half of Americans view the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border as a “crisis.”
In California, there are growing concerns about the potential impact of Trump’s immigration policies. Some Democratic lawmakers, who have called for tougher border security, also support comprehensive immigration reform that would create a pathway to citizenship for immigrants like farmworkers and Dreamers—those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Bass addressed the city’s stance in a statement released on Tuesday. “Especially in the face of growing threats to immigrant communities, I stand with the people of this city,” Bass said. “This moment demands urgency.”
She continued, “Immigrant protections make our communities stronger and our city better. Solidarity is an action, not rhetoric. Los Angeles stands together.”
The new ordinance would officially reaffirm Los Angeles’ refusal to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts. This follows California’s statewide “sanctuary” law, the California Values Act (SB 54), which has been in effect since January 2018. The law ensures that state resources are not used to assist federal immigration enforcement, and it sparked a legal battle between California and the Trump administration. The U.S. Justice Department sued California, challenging the law, while the White House threatened to withhold federal funding from the state.
In March 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions visited California, condemning the state’s sanctuary policies. “The Department of Justice and the Trump Administration are going to fight these unjust, unfair, and unconstitutional policies,” Sessions said.
California’s then-Governor Jerry Brown responded, accusing the Trump administration of attempting to divide the country. “It’s not about the truth. It’s not about protecting our state. It’s about dividing America,” Brown said at the time.
When Gov. Gavin Newsom took office in 2019, he reiterated California’s commitment to being a “sanctuary to all who seek it.”
Meanwhile, Tom Homan, in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes, clarified that deportations under the Trump administration would focus on “targeted arrests” based on federal investigations, not mass sweeps of neighborhoods. “It’s not gonna be… building concentration camps,” he said, calling such claims “ridiculous.”
A recent study by the American Immigration Council estimates that deporting over 11 million undocumented individuals in the U.S. could result in an economic loss of between $1.1 trillion and $1.7 trillion, severely impacting industries such as agriculture, hospitality, and construction.
As Los Angeles and California prepare for the potential impact of a new federal administration, their policies continue to clash with the federal government’s stance on immigration enforcement. The future of these policies will likely be shaped by ongoing legal and political battles.
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