Los Angeles–Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti vowed that local police would not help the federal government detain undocumented immigrations for deportation.
In his State of the City address in English and Spanish at City Hall on Thursday, Garcetti directly addressed ongoing relationship between the second largest city of the country and President Donald Trump’s administration over the contentious issue of illegal immigration, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) will never act as a federal immigration force,” Garcetti said, promising that other city agencies would follow suit, which drew warm applause in the hall.
“We want people in this city to earn legal wages, pay taxes and start businesses,” Garcetti said, despite President Trump threatening to cut federal funding of cities that act as sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants.
The Mayor said he was heartened in January to see Los Angeles residents rush to airports to offer services to travellers blocked by Trump’s executive order from entering the US.
It was not the first time that Californian politicians displayed a stern attitude against Trump’s immigration policy.
“In California, immigrants are an integral part of who we are and what we’ve become,” Governor Jerry Brown said earlier this year,
“They have helped create the wealth and dynamism of this state from the very beginning.” (IANS)
