L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has announced plans to expedite the “Sanctuary City” ordinance into law following President-elect Donald Trump’s vows to implement mass deportation efforts across the country.
The city of Los Angeles’s response to the new administration’s immigration policies was to become a sanctuary city.
Since a sanctuary city adopts policies that protect undocumented immigrants by limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, federal enforcement of immigration laws would not be able to receive any assistance from Los Angeles city personnel or resources after Los Angeles is deemed a sanctuary city.
The state of California was made a sanctuary state in 2017 after the passing of the California Value Act. It protected immigrants from deportation by limiting where immigration enforcement could take place and how much local law enforcement could be involved. With the city of Los Angeles making efforts to become a sanctuary city, immigrants will be further protected.
When Donald Trump first ran for President in 2016 he focused a large portion of his campaign on immigration. He believed he could make America a safer place by creating stronger borders and deporting undocumented immigrants already in the country.
During the 2024 election, Trump continued to heavily focus on immigration reform.
“They unleashed an army of migrant gangs waging a campaign of violence,” said Trump at an immigration-focused rally in Tempe, Arizona, two weeks before the election. “We’re a dumping ground. We’re like a garbage can for the world.”
On Sunday night, Trump announced that he would appoint Tom Homan, his former border czar, to oversee border protections during his second term in office. Homan played a key role in carrying out the family separation policy under the first Trump Administration according to reporting by the New York Times.
Homan, who has spent 34 years deporting undocumented immigrants, had a message for them during his speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
“You better start packing now,” Homan said.
Trump’s decision to appoint Tom Homan for a second time suggests he will continue his tough on immigration policy from his first term. The push for increased deportation has left undocumented immigrants feeling anxious and worried about what a second Trump term will mean for their future.
“It’s beyond my imagination what migrants are feeling at this moment,” Guillermo Torres, director of programming for CLUE, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, said. “The fear factor, the anxiety, the depression.”
Torres’ organization aims to protect and amplify immigrant voices in a county like L.A. that thrives off its diverse immigrant population.
“It’s long overdue,” said Torres. “That sanctuary ordinance should have been in effect a long time ago, but the previous administration did not have the courage to declare Los Angeles a sanctuary city”
In fact, after President Trump’s 2016 election, Los Angeles council members proposed a resolution to declare L.A. as a “sanctuary city.” But it took the city two years to vote on it. The resolution does not introduce new legal protections for immigrants; rather, it reiterates existing policies.
In 2017, then-Mayor Eric Garcetti put out an executive directive prohibiting city employees from using public facilities or resources to aid federal civil immigration enforcement. However, the directive lacks legal enforcement power.
Under the heightened urgency driven by Trump’s promise of mass deportations, Bass has called for swift action to enact protections for immigrant communities in Los Angeles.
“Especially in the face of growing threats to the immigrant communities here in Los Angeles, I stand with the people of this city,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “This moment demands urgency. Immigrant protections make our communities stronger and our city better.
After meeting with immigrant rights groups on Tuesday, Mayor Bass and City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto are working to accelerate the release of the “Sanctuary City” ordinance to the City Council.
“Solidarity is an action, not rhetoric. Los Angeles stands together,’’ Bass said in her statement.