Los Angeles has become known as a safe haven for undocumented immigrants and Mayor, Eric Garcetti, has issued a new executive order cementing that status and defying President Donald Trump’s order to remove so-called ‘sanctuary city’ policies. William La Jeunesse from Fox News reported on Wednesday that the US is in conflict, with states and cities heading in different directions and some, like LA, blatantly defying the President.
La Jeunesse added that Los Angeles already prevents police from inquiring about the legal status of suspects and the city has now made its stance official. It is now a sanctuary against federal immigration enforcement, despite the executive order from Trump, asking cities to help track down undocumented immigrants.
The Mayor’s executive order expands the prohibition that banned police officers from inquiring about legal status in the course of an investigation to all city employees. This includes the fire department, and at water and airports, while also forbidding employees from assisting federal immigration officers enforcing immigration law in any way. The LAPD Chief, Charlie Beck, claims that the move has been made because immigrants are reporting fewer crimes out of fear of deportation. But Virginia Kace, the spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has slammed that allegation as irresponsible and entirely speculative.
Many other cities are going in the opposite direction, with bills to penalize sanctuary cities introduced by lawmakers in Florida, Kansas, Virginia, and Texas, and such a bill about to be signed into law in Mississippi.