Winning a Sanctuary Ordinance in LA City
On December 9, 2024, after a years-long campaign from a broad-based coalition that DSA-LA is part of, Los Angeles Mayor Bass signed the LA Sanctuary Ordinance. The ordinance is a long overdue policy to protect and defend immigrants and a huge victory for the LA Sanctuary Coalition.
The campaign for Sanctuary began in 2017 during the first Trump Administration. Despite pressure from the ‘ICE out of LA’ coalition, which demanded that LA adopt a law to disentangle the City from federal immigration enforcement, no policy was introduced at that time. Instead, the City of Los Angeles merely proclaimed itself a “city of sanctuary” and former Mayor Garcetti issued a directive regarding immigration enforcement. This meant that the City of Los Angeles, despite being home to large, diverse, and vibrant immigrant communities, was falling behind other localities such as Santa Ana and Berkeley that adopted policies refusing to use local resources to collude with immigration agents.
DSA-LA-elected Eunisses Hernandez, who represents LA City Council District 1, speaks about the importance of passing a sanctuary city ordinance.
Socialists in office make the difference
Fast forward to 2023, after the successful election of DSA-endorsed candidates Nithya Raman, Hugo Soto-Martinez, and Eunisses Hernandez to Los Angeles City Council. Having three socialists in office marked a significant shift in what was possible within local politics. We finally had the champions who were willing to call out the unjust nature of immigration arrests, detentions, and deportations, and to introduce a sanctuary policy.
The three socialist Council members introduced a motion on March 7, 2023 directing the City Attorney to draft a Sanctuary ordinance. The Sanctuary Coalition had been meeting with them for months to discuss putting forward the strongest possible language, and mobilized dozens of people to turn out that day.
Fast forward again to October 2024. We were on the cusp of elections and the City Attorney had still not shared a draft ordinance. Worse yet, the City Council was deciding whether to approve the selection of Jim McDonnell as Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. During his time as the Sheriff of Los Angeles County from 2014 to 2018, McDonnell colluded with ICE to transfer Angelenos for arrest, detention and deportation, separating thousands of families in Los Angeles. In just one year (2017), the Sheriff’s Department spent $1.4 million dollars on ICE entanglement and transferred 1,223 people to ICE. Jim McDonnell also opposed a sanctuary bill at the state level.
The coalition quickly sprang into action, mobilizing to host two press conferences—one before the Public Safety Committee meeting and the other before the full Council vote. Speakers included leaders from the Central American Resource Center, California Immigrant Policy Center, SEIU USWW, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and Black Lives Matter-LA. They spoke intersectionally about the ways in which law enforcement has harmed communities of color and the need for the Sanctuary Ordinance.
The coalition also organized a rally and march that featured Los Jornaleros del Norte playing from a flatbed truck. Hundreds of people showed up to call for Sanctuary, in order to ensure that no LAPD Chief—current or future—would facilitate deportations. Over 80 organizations signed onto a letter underscoring their strong concerns about McDonnell and supporting moving forward with an ordinance that would completely prohibit ICE transfers, as LA County did in September 2020.
No ignoring Trump’s mass deportations pledge
With Donald Trump’s election this past November, it became clear that the City had to take a stance to defy the anti-immigrant bigotry that has defined national discourse and news. There was no ignoring the pledge of mass deportations that was one of the cornerstones of Trump’s campaign. The City would have to prepare for ramped-up targeting, harassment, profiling, and arrests of LA residents.
On November 19, 2024, with the City Council poised to vote on the ordinance, the Sanctuary Coalition held a vibrant press conference on the steps of City Hall. Hundreds of attendees rallied while speakers representing labor and immigrant rights groups spoke. We then went into City Hall, providing comments and holding up “Sanctuary Now” signs. That day the Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted to pass the Sanctuary Ordinance.
The organizations that worked on this victory included DSA-LA, ACLU-So Cal, California Immigrant Policy Center, Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), CLEAN Carwash Campaign, Garment Worker Center, National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), SEIU-USWW, Public Counsel, UCLA Center for Immigration Law & Policy, UCLA Labor Center, and many more groups!
This victory will have a tangible, material impact. The City is committing to refuse its resources (personnel, property, funds, etc.) for immigration enforcement. Immigrants will feel more comfortable accessing City programs, without the fear that contact with the City will result in their deportation. This is significant given that 1.3 million immigrants reside in Los Angeles City, totaling over 34 percent of the population.
DSA-LA members Shiu-Ming C and Jack S-L attend a demonstration as a part of the sanctuary city campaign at LA City Hall
Not just in words
The Sanctuary Ordinance makes Los Angeles a true “sanctuary city,” not just in words but in actions. Its key components include:
Barring the City from asking about, or collecting, information about a person's Citizenship, Immigration Status, or place of birth
Preventing the police from citing, arresting, holding, transferring, or detaining any person for Immigration Enforcement purposes
Not providing any Immigration Agent access to any non-public areas of property owned or controlled by the City, including City jails, for the purpose of Immigration Enforcement
Prohibiting the direct and indirect sharing of data with federal immigration authorities. City contractors and subcontractors must confirm in writing that they will not share personal information collected for City services with immigration authorities.
City staff cannot participate in any joint task force with any immigration agency
City staff cannot make any person in City custody available to any immigration agent for an interview
With this important step, LA will no longer support an immigration detention and deportation system that has its underpinnings in white supremacy, settler colonialism, and the exploitation of immigrant workers. The Sanctuary Coalition will continue our work to ensure that our local resources are spent on supporting City residents and making LA a place where working class immigrants can thrive.