LA City Council Moves Forward With Immigrant Protections Amid Federal Crackdown

The Los Angeles City Council approved a set of motions Wednesday aimed at strengthening protections for immigrants in response to increased federal enforcement efforts and threats to sanctuary cities.

In a 10-0 vote, council members directed staff to report on new policies that would require businesses in Los Angeles to notify the city of any Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity and to inform workers of their rights before potential raids. The council also asked city staff to identify $540,000 to sustain immigration legal services. This funding would fill a gap caused by a freeze from the Trump Administration.

Council members John Lee, Tim McOsker, Adrin Nazarian, Traci Park, and Nithya Raman were absent during the vote.

In a separate 12-0 vote, the council approved two additional motions after amendments were introduced by Councilmembers Monica Rodriguez and Ysabel Jurado. McOsker, Park, and Raman were absent for those votes as well.

The approved motions include the development of a citywide “Know Your Rights Campaign.” This effort will inform immigrants in Los Angeles about nondiscrimination protections, sanctuary policies, and available legal resources.

Rodriguez’s amendment requested a report from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) on its handling of U-Visas. These visas are granted to immigrants who are victims of crimes such as domestic violence and sexual assault. The report is expected to include data since 2017 and examine obstacles that victims may face in securing the visas.

The council also asked for a review of the city’s compliance with its sanctuary city policy, which prohibits city resources or staff from being used for federal immigration enforcement.

Jurado’s amendment called for a legal analysis of the California Values Act. She said the review could help provide guidance to LAPD, following reports that officers assisted with traffic control during an ICE operation in Pico Union. City officials said the federal operation was tied to a criminal warrant related to human trafficking.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell reiterated that the department has not participated in immigration enforcement since 1979.

The council additionally passed a resolution supporting increased state funding for deportation defense programs.

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, who co-authored the motions, thanked city departments and immigration advocates after the meeting.

“These motions are important because we have to use every single tool to fight back because we cannot normalize these human rights issues,” Soto-Martinez said.

He criticized the Trump Administration’s approach to immigration and highlighted actions such as sending immigrants to prisons in El Salvador and Guantanamo Bay without hearings and removing legal counsel for undocumented children.

“This whole rhetoric about this being about criminals is simply not true,” Soto-Martinez said. “This is about families and children. We cannot play nice with this administration trying to appeal to their better angels. They simply do not exist.”

Separately, the City Council’s Trade, Travel and Tourism Committee approved a motion Tuesday to provide nonprofit legal services at Los Angeles International Airport in anticipation of a possible travel ban. That proposal will go to the full council for a vote at a later date.

In November 2024, the City Council and Mayor Karen Bass officially designated Los Angeles as a sanctuary city. While the city already had policies limiting cooperation with ICE, this new designation formalized a rule that no city staff or resources may assist federal immigration authorities without a judicial warrant.

Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump issued executive orders targeting undocumented immigrants and sanctuary cities like Los Angeles and Chicago. These orders authorized ICE activity in sensitive locations such as schools and churches.

Trump also threatened to cut federal funding to sanctuary cities that did not comply with ICE operations.

Trump previously called illegal immigration “an invasion of our country” and said his deportation plans would move forward regardless of cost.

“It’s not a question of a price tag,” Trump told NBC News shortly after his election. “It’s not — really, we have no choice. When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here. There is no price tag.”

Trump added that he believed most voters, including Latinos, supported his immigration stance.

“They want to have borders,” Trump previously said. “And they like people coming in, but they have to come in with love for the country. They have to come in legally.”