Councilmembers Lena Gonzalez, Jeannine Pearce, Roberto Uranga and (Vice Mayor) Rex Richardson added the item to Feb. 7 agenda using the Council's shorter-than-usual-notice procedure (submitted by noon Feb. 3.) It arrives for a Council vote (by coincidence) one day after President Donald Trump told Fox News in a pre-SuperBowl interview that "California in many ways is out of control" and "if we have to, we'll defund [cut off federal funds]."

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When interviewer Bill O'Reilly brought up proposed legislation [SB 54] that he described as seeking to turn CA into a "sanctuary state," President Trump responded: "I think it's ridiculous. Sanctuary cities, as you know, I'm very much opposed to sanctuary cities. They breed crime, there's a lot of problems," President Trump added that he doesn't want to defund a state or a city and would like to give them "the money they need to properly operate" but "if they're going to have sanctuary cities, we may have to do that [de-fund]. Certainly that would be a weapon."

In their accompanying memo seeking Council support for SB 54 and SB 31, co-agendizers Gonzalez, Pearce, Uranga and Richardson state that "there is no fiscal impact at this time."

Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento have sanctuary policies and have variously indicated they will mount court challenges if the Trump administration attempts to withhold federal funds.

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In 2013, California's legislature enacted the TRUST Act (AB 4, took effect Jan. 1, 2014) which prohibits law enforcement officials from detaining an individual on the basis of a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody, unless certain conditions are met, including among other things that the individual has been convicted of specified crimes.

On Jan. 25, 2017, following President Trump's Executive Order which made reference to sanctuary cities, the Long Beach Police Department released the following statement:

[LBPD statement] Enforcing immigration at the local level undermines the trust and cooperation with immigrant communities, which are essential elements of community oriented policing. Long Beach follows the California TRUST Act, and our current practice is not to hold individuals on immigration violations alone. The Long Beach Police Department supports measures to either continue incarceration or to deport violent and serious offenders who pose a threat to our community. We evaluate our policies and procedures as any new legislation is enacted, but it would be premature to speculate on any changes, at this time.

Policies of the City of Long Beach are determined by a majority of LB's nine-member City Council; city management-run departments (including LBPD through its Chief of Police) carry out Council-directed policies; under LB's City Charter, LB's Mayor can recommend, support or oppose or veto (the latter subject to a six vote Council override) but has no independent executive policy-setting power.

On Jan. 28, 2017, Mayor Robert Garcia, a lawful naturalized immigrant from Peru and a Democrat who voted to nominate Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders at the Dem Party's 2016 convention, wrote on his Facebook page: "Long Beach has an amazing Cambodian community because we welcomed them as refugees from a country torn apart by genocide. That's what America is all about. We stand up for others with compassion. This refugee and Muslim ban does not reflect the values of our country. 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.'"

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A legislative analysis for the state Senate's Public Safety Committee (which held a Jan. 31 hearing on SB 54 and voted 5-2 to advance the measure to the Sen. Appropriations Committee, coverage here) listed the following supporters at that time:

Abriendo Puerta/Opening Doors; Alliance for Boys and Men of Color; Alliance San Diego; American Academy of Pediatrics, California; American Civil Liberties Union; Asian Americans Advancing Justice-California; Asian American Criminal Trial Lawyers Association; Asian Law Alliance; ASPIRE; Bill Wilson Center; California Adolescent Health Collaborative; California Association for Bilingual Education; California Central Valley Journey for Justice; California College and University Police Chiefs Association; California Federation of Teachers (CFT), AFL-CIO; California La Raza Lawyers Association; California Partnership to End Domestic Violence; Californians for Justice Education Fund; Californians Together Coalition; Center for Gender and Refugee Studies; Central American Resource Center-Los Angeles; Centro Laboral de Graton; Children's Defense Fund-CA; Courage Campaign; CREDO; Equality California; Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles; Evergreen Teachers Association; Faith in the Valley; Filipino Youth Coalition; Friends Committee on Legislation of California; Immigrant Legal Resource Center; Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice; Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Coalition; Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance; La Raza Roundtable de California; Latino and Latina Roundtable; Latino Coalition for a Healthy California; Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic; Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund; Mi Familia Vota; Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project; Monument Impact; Muslim Student Association West; National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles; North County Immigration Task Force of San Diego; National Council of Jewish Women California; National Day Laborer Organizing Network; National Immigration Law Center; Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress; Nikkei Progressives; Orange County Immigrant Youth United; Our Family Coalition; Pangea Legal Services; PolicyLink; RISE San Luis Obispo; San Diego Dream Team; San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium; San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association; San Joaquin Immigrant Youth Collective; Santa Cruz County Immigration Project; Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network; SEIU California; SEIU Local 1021; Somos Mayfair; South Asian SB 54 (De León ) Page 2 of 9 Network; Tongan American Youth Foundation; The Children's Partnership; Training Occupational Development Educating Communities Legal Center; UNITE HERE; UPLIFT; Village Connect, Inc.; Voices for Progress Education Fund; Warehouse Worker Resource Center; Western Center on Law And Poverty; YWCA Glendale; one individual

The legislative analysis listed only one person/entity in opposition at that time: the CA State Sheriffs' Association.

Developing.

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