Surprisingly, ultra-left and migrant-happy Los Angeles had not until yesterday officially been a “sanctuary city.” That changed yesterday when the city council voted unanimously to “prohibit the use of city resources and personnel to carry out federal immigration enforcement.” Pro-migrant protestors inside and outside city hall during the session held up signs proclaiming “Migration Is a Human Right” and chanted in Spanish, “What do we want? Sanctuary. When do we want it? Now.”
Los Angeles is said to be home to a whopping 1.3 million foreigners, though the percentage of those who are illegal — and thus would benefit from the sanctuary declaration — is unknown.
Incoming president Donald Trump has vowed to declare a “national emergency” and use “military assets” to deport illegal migrants early in his term. Border czar-designate Tom Homan has issued a warning that no one illegally in this country should feel secure, though the deportations will concentrate on law-breakers. Sanctuary or no, he has promised that ICE will complete the mass deportations Trump campaigned on. He furthermore warned that cities like Los Angeles that deliberately hinder ICE officials may cause more migrants to be arrested than otherwise. Homan said yesterday:
They don’t want to help us in the jail then we’ll go to into the community and arrest them. And what happens in the community when we find the bad guy, the chances are he’s with others, so others are going to be arrested that weren’t even on the radar, but you know what, sanctuary city policies forced us in that position.
In addition, Homan said that while cities and localties have no duty to assist federal officials in the roundup, they are obligated by law not to interfere. He pointed out that according to Section 1324(1)(a)(iii) of the immigration laws (Title 8, U.S. Code) such interference or the shielding of migrants from arrest would be considered a felony under federal law.
“Don’t cross that line,” he said.
For more, see the NY Post.