Los Angeles Officially Declares Itself a Sanctuary City, Texas Governor Responds, ‘Here You Go’

Up until June 9, Los Angeles wasn’t officially a sanctuary city. Who knew? 

California is officially a sanctuary state. The city of Los Angeles has had Special Order 40 on its books since 1979, which assures illegal aliens that the Los Angeles Police Department will not inform federal authorities when they encounter an illegal alien. Former Mayor Eric Garcetti signed a proclamation in 2019 assuring illegal aliens that they would be protected in Los Angeles. Los Angeles County bars Immigration and Customs Enforcement from entering its jails to identify deportable criminal aliens. But much to the surprise of everyone, the city of Los Angeles had never officially approved a sanctuary ordinance. 

That oversight has now been “corrected.” By a 12-0 vote (with two members absent), the City Council codified its longstanding policy of obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws. “One in ten Angelenos are undocumented, and this community needs to be able to trust the government and access critical services just like anyone else,” rejoiced Councilman Hugo Soto- Martinez, one of the sponsors of the ordinance. Another sponsor, Councilwoman Nithya Raman, declared, “A significant number of residents in Los Angeles live in fear of being apprehended, detained and deported by federal immigration authorities” – a “fear” that under the current administration is about as real as being abducted by Martians. 

Nevertheless, Mayor Karen Bass and members of the council got to bask in the warm glow of their virtue signaling for a few days, until… Texas Governor Greg Abbott took LA up on its offer. 

Virtue signaling quickly gave way to righteous indignation. “Los Angeles is not a city motivated by hate or fear and we absolutely will not be swayed or moved by petty politicians playing with human lives,” huffed Mayor Bass, adding that the city was “on the receiving end of a despicable stunt.” She was talking about the 40 migrants, who got off the bus. 

But even her outrage could not match that of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who was still seething about the 16 migrants the state of Florida had picked up in Texas and rerouted to Sacramento a week earlier. In response to that move to test the resolve of a self-declared sanctuary state, Gov. Newsom threatened to charge Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with kidnapping and false imprisonment, even though all 16 passengers agreed to be bused to Sacramento. 

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, however, took it in stride. “We were prepared to welcome these immigrants. The Catholic Church is stepping up to help and we will work to reunite them with their families,” even though all the children in the group arrived in Los Angeles in the company the family members they crossed the border with. 

With such a welcome, Ms. Hahn, the governor, the mayor, the city council and the Catholic Church should be expecting many more to arrive in their now official designated sanctuary city in the coming weeks and months.