Los Angeles passes sanctuary city ordinance and safeguards for immigrants and LGBTQ youth

Los Angeles officials on Tuesday moved to cement the city and its schools as sanctuaries for immigrants and LGBTQ youth as the city positions itself to push back strongly against President-elect Donald Trump’s platforms on immigration and gender.

The Los Angeles City Council, which represents the second-largest US city, unanimously voted to adopt a “sanctuary city” ordinance that prohibits city resources from being used in immigration enforcement or to cooperate with federal immigration agents, unless required by state law.

The ordinance is expected to be approved by Mayor Karen Bass.

Also Tuesday, the Los Angeles Unified School District passed a handful of emergency resolutions intended to thwart the incoming Republican administration, including protections for immigrant families and staff, enforcement of “respectful” treatment of LGBTQ community members and preparations to resist some policies in Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for the next Republican president.

City officials are racing to implement the measures before Trump retakes the White House in January, when the president has vowed to enact strict border and immigration policies on Day 1. LGBTQ advocates also fear his presidency will result in wider restrictions on transgender people and rollbacks of protections for other LGBTQ groups.

“We know what’s coming. They’ve said what’s coming, and we want to tell our students and their families and all of our personnel that you are welcome here,” school board President Jackie Goldberg said Tuesday.

In the days after Trump’s election, Bass and City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto expedited the release of the sanctuary ordinance to the city council after hearing a flood of concerns from immigration groups.

“Especially in the face of growing threats to the immigrant communities here in Los Angeles, I stand with the people of this city,” Bass said in a statement last week. “This moment demands urgency. Immigrant protections make our communities stronger and our city better.”

California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is also reigniting his resistance campaign against Trump, calling last week for lawmakers to convene a special session to safeguard the state’s progressive policies on climate change, reproductive rights and immigration.

The city ordinance legally enshrines several city policies that are already in place to protect migrants, including a decades-old Los Angeles Police Department mandate that officers not inquire about a person’s immigration status or make arrests based on a person’s immigration status.

But it also likely sets the city up for conflict with the incoming Trump administration, which has vowed large-scale detention and deportation of migrants – especially those who are undocumented.

Tom Homan, a former Trump-era Immigration and Customs Enforcement director whom Trump has tapped to be his administration’s “border czar,” has expressed disdain for sanctuary cities.

In an interview with “Fox & Friends” last week, Homan suggested the Trump administration may try to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities and federal agents will not be deterred from enforcing migration policies.

“If sanctuary cities don’t want to help us, then get the hell out of the way. Because we’re coming,” Homan said.

Council member Curren Price Jr., however, insisted Tuesday the sanctuary status will be essential to maintaining trust between the city and immigrant communities, some of which may refrain from reporting crimes or seeking emergency assistance out of fear they could be deported.

“Sanctuary cities are not just a legal framework,” Price said. “They represent a moral commitment to upholding human dignity, protecting families and ensuring that everyone, regardless of their immigration status, can live without fear.”

Protections for school students and staff

The Los Angeles Unified school board passed several motions Tuesday to strengthen its position as a sanctuary for district families and staff members who may be threatened by Trump administration policies, notably migrant families and LGBTQ students.

The board unanimously approved a motion to reaffirm its sanctuary policy, which bars school personnel from voluntarily cooperating with immigration enforcement or sharing information about the immigration status of students and families with immigration agencies.

Teachers and administrators will receive training on how to respond to federal immigration personnel who request information about students and families or who are trying to enter school property.

Goldberg, the board president, also said the district will “aggressively oppose” any effort to create federal laws that require school districts to comply with immigration enforcement actions.

In an effort to create a more accepting environment for LGBTQ students and staff, the district approved another motion to expand its rules about “respectful treatment of all persons” to include gender identity and gender expression.

The resolution cited the “nationwide proliferation of anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and narratives,” which “exacerbates discrimination, invalidates people’s humanity, and stokes fear and anxiety.”

Promise to resist Project 2025 policies

The school board in its final vote issued a direct rebuke of Project 2025, which has called for a complete overhaul of federal education policy and eventual elimination of the Department of Education.

In its motion, the board resolved to “protect and defend students, families, and staff from the harm intended by Project 2025,” though the board did not elaborate on specific project policies beyond the abolition of the Department of Education.

Board member Rocío Rivas called the move a “bold and necessary shield against the looming threats to public education.”

“LAUSD stands as a beacon on inclusivity, a safe harbor for all, and this resolution fiercely declares that we will not cower in the face of those who seek to undermine the very foundation of our diverse and vibrant community,” Rivas said.

Though Trump has sought to distance himself publicly from Project 2025, a CNN review found that at least 140 people who worked in the first Trump administration were involved in it. He has even tapped some of its contributors for his incoming administration, including his pick for Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr.

Trump also repeatedly called for the elimination of the Department of Education on the campaign trail.

“We will ultimately eliminate the federal Department of Education,” he said in September at a rally in Wisconsin. He added: “We will drain the government education swamp and stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth with all sorts of things that you don’t want to have our youth hearing.”

Within 60 days of the school board’s resolution, the district superintendent is expected to present a detailed plan on how the district will “defend public education and the students, families, and staff we serve” from policies detailed in Project 2025 and similar Trump administration actions.

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