LOS ANGELES — California, home to many foreigners without residence papers, is girding to fight any attempt by President-elect Donald Trump to expel them.
Trump, who takes office Jan. 20, has vowed to deport from the country as many as three million immigrants with criminal records and build a wall along the border with Mexico.
But several so-called sanctuary cities in California — ones that intentionally avoid prosecuting undocumented foreigners for violations of federal immigration policy — are beginning to dig in. The state is home to 2.8 million of undocumented immigrants.
“We have all heard the insults. We have all heard the lies. And we have all heard the threats,” said Anthony Rendon, speaker of the California State Assembly. He is a Democrat of Mexican origin. “If you want to get to them, you have to go through us.”
During the presidential campaign, Trump vowed to cut off federal funds for sanctuary cities, of which there are an estimated 300 in the United States.
But city authorities seem to have no intention of supporting any anti-immigrant initiative by the incoming government.
Advocates say protecting undocumented immigrants from deportation and other punishments encourages them to report crimes, enroll in school and seek healthcare.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said after Trump won in November that “being a sanctuary city is in our DNA. San Francisco will never be anything other than a sanctuary city.”
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti wants to open a $10 million fund to provide free legal assistance to undocumented foreigners, most of whom are Hispanic.
Xavier Becerra, liberal Governor Jerry Brown’s nominee for state attorney general, is the son of Mexican immigrants and the first Latino to hold that post.
“If you want to take on a forward-leaning state that is prepared to defend its rights and interests, then come at us,” said Becerra, whom the press bills as Brown’s attack dog. — AFP
