LA city leaders are limited in what they can do to stop deportations

Eight years ago, LA’s political leaders jumped into action on the issue of immigration, and is committed to protecting the city’s undocumented population from the Trump administration.

City Council members are directing public money toward lawyers to defend Angelenos at risk of deportation. They pushed for legalization of the work of street vendors, many of whom do not have citizenship. And they created a new commission focused on immigration.

There was a sense of deja vu at City Hall this week as political leaders braced for another round against President-elect Donald Trump.

Several council members said Friday they would expedite LA’s passage “sanctuary” lawwhich remains under review by city attorneys in light of Trump’s promised crackdown on immigrants.

The regulationfirst proposed last year and modeled after a San Francisco law, would deny federal immigration enforcement officials access to city databases.

Seven council members also signed a resolution on Friday urging President Biden to renew a program that allows undocumented people from Central America to stay temporarily in the US. Los Angeles has the largest Central American population outside of Latin America.

One of the resolution’s backers, City Councilman Hugo Soto-Martínez, said his own family members, voters in his Eastside district and immigrant rights groups are all feeling “absolutely nervous.”

“More than anything, people are angry,” said Soto-Martínez, chairman of the city’s immigration commission. “They are irritated and ready to fight back, just like we did in 2016.”

Other council members said they feared homelessness funding would be cut after Tuesday’s election. And some worried about the heavily Democratic city’s ability to secure federal security and transportation funds for the 2028 Olympics in LA.

Organizing the international sporting event is already a financial risk because the city is responsible for cost overruns.

City Councilman Paul Krekorian, who traveled to Paris for the recent Summer Games, said Trump’s election left him anticipating “four difficult years for our city on multiple levels, not least our access to federal funding for various programs and the preparations for the Olympic Games.”

L.A. is expected to receive about $355 million in federal grants this fiscal year, according to the city government.

That doesn’t include federal dollars that flow to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a joint city-county agency, or that would come to the region through the Federal Emergency Management Agency after massive disasters.

City officials expressed fears that Trump, a volatile leader prone to grudges, would retaliate against California and Los Angeles for their Democratic leadership.

Trump recently threatened to end federal disaster assistance for California’s wildfires — comments that were on the mind of Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, who works closely with the city’s fire department.

“That’s not democracy,” Rodriguez, whose San Fernando Valley district includes areas prone to wildfires, said Tuesday evening. “That’s not how this is supposed to work.”

Rodriguez served on the council during the last Trump administration, when the U.S. Justice Department regularly clashed with LA in court, including over whether federal funds could be withheld if city officials refused to cooperate with immigration agents.

Mayor Karen Bass served in Congress during Trump’s first term and repeatedly criticized the then-president. In 2020, she called him a “lawless” president who wants to be an “authoritarian leader.”

Since winning the 2022 mayoral race, she has made ending street homelessness her priority and has worked closely with the Biden administration to lobby for more housing vouchers and new rules to allow homeless Angelenos to qualify come for federally funded apartments.

Asked Thursday whether she is concerned about the loss of federal funding now that Trump is in power, Bass responded broadly.

Angelenos will not allow “anyone to divide us or pit groups against each other,” she said. “We’ve done that before, and we’ll do it again.”

City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson also tried to reassure Angelenos this week, telling reporters that it is the job of the City Council and the mayor to ensure “that everyone in this city feels protected and safe, and that includes immigrants .”

According to USC’s Equity Research Institute, LA County has about 800,000 undocumented residents, including many mixed-status families. According to the institute, more than 70% of undocumented residents have been living in the country for more than ten years.

Immigration will be the biggest source of tension between the city government and the Trump administration, said Manuel Pastor, director of the institute. At the same time, the City Council has become more progressive since 2016, he said.

City leaders regularly talk about immigration in personal terms. Newly elected Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado, a tenants’ rights attorney, this week won a seat representing parts of the Eastside after running a campaign highlighting the undocumented status of her Filipino parents.

Despite their assurances, the City Council and Bass have limited power when it comes to stopping deportations.

The city also faces a budget crisis that could limit its ability to pay for programs that immigrant groups are now seeking, including free lawyers for those at risk of deportation.

At a rally Thursday outside City Hall, some immigrant rights leaders urged city officials to fund efforts to warn communities about deportation raids.

Masih Fouladi, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center, said LA must offer “unprecedented investments” in such programs because of Trump.

Harris-Dawson indicated Friday that the city may take more action on immigration in the coming weeks. He also suggested that some city officials are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to Trump’s plans.

“Some of us, I don’t know why, want to give the president the benefit of the doubt and try to see what’s going to happen, rather than react before something actually happens,” he said.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, whose district includes the immigrant-rich Pico-Union neighborhood, was not among those waiting. She told The Times that officials need to “retrain” themselves on how to protect immigrant communities.

Trump “has been very explicit about what he wants to do,” she said.

Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.