LOS ANGELES—On the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed to launch the “largest deportation program in American history” on day one of his presidency. With less than two months to go before he takes office, the immigrant rights movement is not waiting around to mobilize the resistance effort.
On Nov. 19, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to pass a city ordinance that would make L.A. a sanctuary city. The ordinance passed with amendments and will need a finalizing vote in the first week of December.
Members of the Communist Party USA from around Los Angeles County, led by CPUSA National Co-Chair Rossana Cambron, joined the coalition pushing for the measure in downtown street demonstrations earlier this month.
The broad alliance advocating L.A.’s designation as a sanctuary city includes SEIU 721, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights L.A. (CHIRLA), DSA, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, ACLU SoCal, United Teachers of Los Angeles, and others.
The rapid increase in public and mass pressure after Trump’s election win pushed city officials to expedite the measure’s preliminary passing.
Former Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2019 signed an executive action to protect immigrants and migrants but refused to push a city law on the matter. In 2023, the city council voted for a sanctuary city law to be written and voted on within 60 days, but there was little to no movement since then until the mass pressure from broad coalitions.
Mayor Karen Bass said that she didn’t know the city had no laws protecting immigrants; it will now. The semi-passed law will deny federal authorities like ICE access to city databases and resources.
However, the new district attorney and LAPD chief, Nathan Hochman and Jim McDonnell respectively, are far-right figures who have promised to go after imaginary crime increases and immigrant community members.
McDonnell was selected by Bass, who remarked at the time she nominated him that he was a “leader, innovator, and change maker.” His appointment was approved by city council 11-2. Bruno Huizar of the California Immigrant Policy Center gave a conflicting report, “We strongly oppose McDonnell’s appointment due to his prior history of colluding with ICE.”
Trump is proposing massive deportations of immigrants and U.S. citizens, urged along ideologically by the Heritage Foundation. Project 2025, written by Heritage, has laid out detailed plans for deporting tens of millions of people. The person who wrote those plans, Tom Homan, is Trump’s pick for border czar.
Los Angeles, home to many immigrants, is thus set to occupy a central role in the fight that’s about to unfold. Angelica Salas of CHIRLA reported that 80% of families in the region have an immigrant in the family; Trump’s proposals to go after that community thus affect millions.
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