EDITOR'S NOTE: Multimedia journalist Kristopher Gee spoke with a City of Los Angeles resident and a local advocate about the "sanctuary city" ordinance. Click the arrow above for the full report.
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council formally adopted a "sanctuary city" ordinance Wednesday, prohibiting city resources or personnel from being used to help federal enforcement of immigration laws.
Council members voted 12-0 in favor of the proposal which includes an urgency clause, meaning it will go into effect immediately upon being signed by Mayor Karen Bass, instead of 30 days later. The council initially approved the proposal Nov. 19, but it required a second vote after being amended.
Council members John Lee, Traci Park and Nithya Raman were absent during the vote. There was no discussion on the matter.
Elected officials previously said such an ordinance codified protections for migrants in the country illegally and close a gap in past policies by prohibiting the direct or indirect sharing of data with federal immigration authorities.
Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, who co-authored the proposal with Raman and Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, explained that immigrants and their families should be able to go to work, report serious crimes and send their children to school without fear that their family will be ripped apart.
"These are people like my own parents, who were originally undocumented when they came to LA. Deporting my parents would've meant either taking them away from me and my six siblings — or making me and my siblings go to a country that we've never even been to," Soto-Martinez said in a statement.
Soto-Martinez also noted that studies have shown how illegal immigrants contribute to the economy. In California, undocumented immigrants contributed $8.5 billion in taxes each year, according a study by the California Budget and Policy Center.
Research from the Center for American Progress found sanctuary cities have a 2.3% lower poverty rate, higher median income by nearly $5,000, and lower unemployment rates of 1.1%, compared to non-sanctuary jurisdictions.
The center's study also noted illegal migrants were less reliant on public assistance such as food programs and Social Security.
Bass emphasized the purpose of the ordinance is to make Los Angeles safer, and she looks forward to signing it.
"When members of our immigrant community are victims of a crime or witnesses to a crime, they shouldn't be fearful to reach out to LAPD for help," Bass said in a statement.
"Many of the immigrant protections here in Los Angeles have been in place for decades, and this ordinance reinforces our commitment to protect our immigrant community. I know that Chief (Jim) McDonnell and the LAPD will continue their work to keep prioritizing the safety of all Angelenos," she added.
The council's initial vote came two weeks after Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election following a campaign in which he stressed border security and promised to deport people who are in the United States illegally.
Representatives for the president-elect did not respond to a request for comment, but the Los Angeles County Republican Party issued the following statement:
"A country without secure borders isn't a country at all. So-called 'sanctuary' cities and states sound warm and fuzzy, but the protections they offer aren't for abuelas getting ice cream, they're for people who've entered the country illegally and committed additional crimes. Whether drunk driving, robbery, sexual violence, assault or murder, none of those should go unpunished. Perpetrators should definitely not be protected by the largesse taken from hard-working taxpayers."
For years, Los Angeles has upheld certain policies protecting migrants, but the passage of the sanctuary ordinance formally codifies them.
In part, the ordinance enshrines protections issued by former Mayor Eric Garcetti during the first Trump administration. Additionally, the council adopted changes to the language so it aligned with California's "sanctuary state" law, SB 54, the California Values Act of 2017.
The Los Angeles Police Department also complies with its Special Order 40, established in 1979, which mandates that its officers not inquire about immigration status or make arrests related to a migrant's legal status.
The council did carve out an exception for the LAPD to assist federal immigration officers for cases involving serious offenses. It would allow police to communicate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a migrant convicted of a violent felony who is deported but returns to the United States — which is the LAPD's current procedure.
City officials noted that it has been invoked twice since 2018.
Tom Homan, the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tapped to be Trump's "border czar," has previously addressed sanctuary jurisdictions, using New York City as an example and noting that, "If we can't get assistance from New York City, we may have to double the number of agents we send to New York City. Because we're going to do the job with you or without you."
Homan also suggested that Trump withhold federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions.
Other local elected bodies have taken similar action to the council's ordinance. The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education adopted a resolution reaffirming its previous 2017 declaration as a "sanctuary district." The district's resolution calls for training of teachers and staff about how they should respond if approached by federal immigration authorities.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently approved a motion to establish a task force to monitor the impact of changing federal immigration policies. The board might also establish a Department of Immigration Affairs. Other measures include increased mental health support for immigrants, securing ongoing funding for immigration-support offices and beginning an awareness campaign.