Los Angeles As local officials, advocacy organizations, and the country’s second-largest school system begin organizing to fight mass deportations, the pushback that blue state governors pledged following Donald Trump’s election is starting to take shape.
The cities of Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles have pledged to protect undocumented residents of the United States from the incoming Trump administration’s plans to carry out what it claims will be the most extensive deportation campaign in history.
The ACLU of Southern California sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement this month, seeking information on how the next administration intends to conduct the roundups, while the Los Angeles Unified School District declared itself a sanctuary for migrants.
Although local authorities admit that the declarations and laws cannot halt deportations, they claim that the strategies can impede attempts and slow down local enforcement.
According to Philadelphia Councilmember Rue Landau, people’s level of terror is really high. They are preparing for the worst, and it is our responsibility as local leaders to demonstrate our communities’ resilience.
“There is no price tag on getting the job done,” the incoming president told NBC News, stating that he has no choice but to deport those who are illegally in the nation.
A request for comment from a representative of the incoming Trump administration was not answered.
Mass deportation opponents claim it will split families apart and reduce community safety as undocumented residents cease informing police about crimes and sharing information for fear of being deported. Sending refugees back to the nations they left because of gang violence, drug cartels, and terrible poverty is frequently criticized as being cruel.
Curren D. Price Jr., a member of the Los Angeles City Council, has stated that sanctuary cities are more than just a legal framework. They stand for a moral dedication to preserving human dignity, safeguarding families, and making sure that no one has to live in terror, regardless of immigration status.
Proponents contend that illegal immigration deprives American citizens of jobs, lowers wages, and increases crime. Tom Homan, the incoming border czar and former ICE deputy director during Trump’s first term, has stated that the American people have given the president-elect a mandate to secure the border and combat illegal immigration.
Homan has also issued a warning against efforts to obstruct law enforcement, telling Fox News that he was prepared to imprison Denver Mayor Mike Johnston after Johnston urged citizens to demonstrate in their neighborhoods and stated he would risk being arrested to oppose Trump’s plan.
During his border tour in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Tuesday, Homan stated, “We’re not waiting to January,” which is when Trump will take office. “We’re conversing already. We’ve already started planning. We will devise a strategy to safeguard this country at unprecedented levels.
“Let me be clear, there is going to be a mass deportation,” he stated.
A request for response from Johnston’s office was not answered.
After taking office on January 20, Trump is anticipated to sign up to five executive orders on immigration. He is also thinking of denying federal police money to law enforcement organizations that refuse to assist in deportations.
According to Hiroshi Motomura, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA, he tried a similar approach during his first term but ran into serious legal issues that he might encounter again.
The Trump administration made an effort to deny federal funding to cities that implemented sanctuary policies in 2018. A number of those localities filed lawsuits against the Justice Department and prevailed in federal court.
According to Motomura, the instances demonstrated that the federal government’s authority to impose directives on state and municipal governments is constrained.
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced shortly after the election on November 5 that the state would hold a special legislative session aimed at defending progressive principles in order to “proof” itself against the new administration. December marks the start of those sessions.
A week following his declaration, the city of Los Angeles enacted legislation that forbids federal immigration enforcement from being carried out using its resources, including the police department and city personnel.
The Migration Policy Institute, a neutral think tank, estimates that 951,000 of the 10 million people living in Los Angeles County are in the United States illegally.
By passing resolutions this month that reaffirm schools as safe havens from immigration enforcement and prohibit staff from willingly disclosing students’ and their families’ immigration status to federal agents, the Los Angeles school district proclaimed itself a sanctuary for immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community.
A district policy that emphasizes the respectful treatment of all individuals, including those with gender identity and gender expression, is updated by an LGBTQ+ resolution.
The United Teachers Los Angeles union estimates that some 30,000 of the 400,000 children in the Los Angeles Unified School District are in the nation without proper papers.
Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston told WCVB that she will do all in her power to safeguard undocumented immigrants. In a similar vein, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey stated on MSNBC that she will employ all available tools to safeguard our citizens and uphold democracy and the rule of law.
According to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, the city will not budge from strict immigration laws.
After the election, he assured reporters, “Our values will remain strong and firm.” Over the following four years, we will probably encounter obstacles in our work, but we won’t let them stop us or turn back.
About 257,000 people in Chicago, roughly 173,000 in Boston, and an estimated 47,000 in Philadelphia are undocumented.
Approximately 1.4 million people were deported by Trump’s administration during his first term. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that by the end of his term, President Joe Biden will have deported roughly 1.6 million people. During the administration of former President Barack Obama, around 3 million people were deported.
Because sanctuary laws implemented by left-leaning states and localities hindered law enforcement agencies from collaborating with federal immigration officials, who frequently require local information and facilities to carry out arrests and detentions, Trump deported fewer people than both Democratic presidents.
According to Naureen Shah, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Government Affairs, Equality Division, groups like hers have learnt a lot from the previous Trump administration and plan to thwart the new White House at every opportunity.
“We can slow them down, prevent them from acting at the scale they want to act at,” she stated. “We can sap their morale and stymie their momentum.”
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