LA city council members introduce 'Sanctuary City' legislation

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Members of the Los Angeles City Council introduced legislation on Tuesday to draft an ordinance to "permanently enshrine sanctuary policies into city law." 

The motion was presented by councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Nithya Raman.

"Today, I stood alongside @cd4losangeles and @cd13losangeles to introduce legislation to draft an ordinance to permanently enshrine sanctuary policies into city law to make sure city resources, property, or personnel are never used by or for ICE," Hernandez tweeted. 

"As a proud daughter of immigrants, I've seen firsthand the ways immigrants have made Los Angeles the diverse and flourishing city that it is. It's long past time that our city steps up to protect our undocumented migrants," she said. 

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"Immigrants make up the very fabric of L.A. Prohibiting the use of city resources for federal immigration enforcement shouldn’t depend on executive actions that can be overturned by a future administration. These are fundamental protections that should be enshrined in our laws," Raman tweeted. 

From left to right, Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez, Eunisses Hernandez and Nithya Raman announcing legislation to direct the City to report back on an ordinance to establish the City of Los Angeles as a Sanctuary City at press conference held at City Hall on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Per the legislation, city staff would be directed to draft the ordinance that would codify a 2017 directive that prohibits any city resources, property or personnel from being utilized or federal immigration enforcement, according to Fox 11 Los Angeles. 

The motion would also reportedly also instruct the city to prohibit inquiring about or collecting information about an individual's immigration status, engaging in investigation or enforcement related to an individual's immigration status, providing immigration authorities access to any non-public areas without a valid search or arrest warrant and providing access to city databases or any individual's personal information or other data to federal immigration authorities.

From left to right, Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Nithya Raman at a press conference to announce legislation to direct the City to report back on an ordinance to establish the City of Los Angeles as a Sanctuary City and prohibit any City resources, property or personnel from being utilized for any federal immigration enforcement. Press conference was held City Hall on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

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The station noted that the Los Angeles Police Department has prohibited offers from getting involved in immigration enforcement since 1979, with policies prohibiting contact with individuals based solely on immigration status and barring access to jails or inmates unless immigration agents have a federal warrant.

While the City Council previously passed a resolution that declared Los Angeles a "city of sanctuary," The Los Angeles Times reported it was a symbolic gesture that offered no legal protections.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez after announcing legislation to direct the City to report back on an ordinance to establish the City of Los Angeles as a Sanctuary City at press conference held at City Hall on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The newspaper, citing a release from Hernandez, the newspaper reported she said that city and department policies still allow for immigration agents to access city jails to interrogate people in police custody and that officers are permitted to transfer individuals to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody "even when judicial warrants are not issued."

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Fox News Digital's request for comment from the LAPD was not immediately returned. 

Nearly 10% of the nation’s more than 11 million immigrants, who are in the country without legal authorization, reside in Los Angeles and Orange counties, according to a 2017 Pew Research Center report.