Los Angeles Passes “Sanctuary City” Ordinance to Protect Illegal Immigrants After Trump’s Victory

Lawmakers in America’s second most populous city Los Angeles, California, have unanimously voted to make it a “sanctuary city” for immigrants. According to a July 2024 Gallup Poll, most Americans want to curb immigration by the largest margin since 2001.

Los Angeles City hosts an estimated 1.3 million “migrants,” although the actual number of undocumented individuals remains unknown or undisclosed. Estimates of alien alien populations are almost certainly all underestimates. Since 2017, California has been a “sanctuary state” for immigration after passing Senate Bill 54 (SB 54).

While the federal government can still enforce immigration laws in Los Angeles, the ordinance prohibits city employees, including law enforcement agents and other public officials, from using the city’s resources to support the enforcement of federal immigration laws. 

Federal agencies rely on information from local and state authorities to identify and apprehend illegal immigrants. Without these informational resources, the federal government cannot identify subjects of deportation.

Similarly, state and local law enforcement agents frequently participate in various federal government task forces on various issues including immigration enforcement. Without the state and local law enforcement manpower, the task forces would be short-staffed.

Subsequently, the ordinance aims to undermine the success of federal immigration law enforcement, including deportations, by starving the feds of the necessary resources. 

Additionally, sanctuary jurisdictions sometimes refuse to retain apprehended illegal immigrants and release them back to the streets, including serial offenders, making communities less safe. LA Mayor Karen Bass, a proponent of unchecked immigration has admitted that “many in our city do not feel safe.” However, LA City Democratic councilmember Paul Krekorian illogically says the ordinance was “keeping Angelenos safer.”

Nonetheless, the ordinance was unanimously approved after a 13-0 vote, punctuated by pro-immigration protests outside the Los Angeles City Hall.

During the event protesters held signs that read “Los Angeles Sanctuary City Now!” The protests were organized by various pro-illegal alien groups fighting for broader protections for people who shouldn’t be in the country in the first place. The groups also actively participated in drafting the ordinance, alongside City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto and Mayor Karen Bass. 

California Immigrant Policy Center, a Los Angeles-based statewide immigrant rights organization, was among the protest organizers.

“Together, we’re building a state where all feel welcome, valued, and safe. You are not alone,” the group posted on X.

The Civil Rights and Public Safety committees also waived their scrutiny of the ordinance to ensure it was fast-tracked to the voting stage. Various measures are indefinitely held in the committee stage to never reach the floor for voting.

When approved, the ordinance codifies the broader protections of undocumented migrants in municipal law, allowing the city to look the other way on illegal immigration.

Proponents of the ordinance are afraid of “unimaginable cruelty,” including the separation of children from parents during mass arrests and deportation. However, they conveniently ignore the negative impacts unchecked immigration has on local communities. Trump has promised to carry out the largest mass deportation in the history of the United States.

Some of California’s problems exacerbated by illegal immigration include housing shortages resulting in skyrocketing rent prices and widespread homelessness, which in turn fuels crime and drug abuse.

Los Angeles Republican Party officials have criticized the “sanctuary city” ordinance, terming it as a move to protect criminals disguised as harmless immigrants.

“So-called ‘sanctuary’ cities and states sound warm and fuzzy, but the protections they offer aren’t for “abuelas” (grandmothers) getting ice cream, they’re for people who’ve entered the country illegally and committed additional crimes,” LACGOP Communications Director Rozanne Hodge told Fox News Digital.