Spectators cheer as the Los Alamitos City Council votes to oppose California’s sanctuary state law. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Will it start a new resistance?
With about 12,000 residents spread across a few miles of suburban Southern California, Los Alamitos is better known for its good schools and small-town charms than political activism.
But the city now finds itself at the center of a rebellion against California’s “sanctuary” policies, which aim to protect immigrants here illegally as President Trump vows to ramp up deportations.
Los Alamitos leaders on Monday approved an ordinance that exempts their Orange County municipality from Senate Bill 54, a law that took effect Jan. 1 and restricts local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It marks a rare effort by a city to challenge the sanctuary movement, which has wide support among elected officials in left-leaning California.
Many cities have faced the ire of Trump and his administration for policies they say are too lenient toward those here illegally. The president slammed San Francisco over its sanctuary law, which he said had allowed a Mexican national who fatally shot a tourist to remain on the streets. And Oakland’s mayor is now the subject of a federal investigation after she sent out an alert warning residents of an immigration sweep.
Los Alamitos, by contrast, is moving in a different direction, with some residents and officials saying they want nothing to do with those policies.
About 160 people showed up to Monday’s regular City Council meeting, a monthly event that rarely draws enough people to fill the 40-seat chamber. Speakers lined up late into the evening to address elected officials, who eventually voted 4 to 1 to approve the ordinance.
“Sometimes things are bigger than we are,” said Mayor Troy D. Edgar.
Cheers erupted inside the chamber after the vote, with some shouting “Patriots!” and “This is a win for America!” as others waved pro-Trump flags.
Councilman Mark A. Chirco was the sole dissenter, suggesting the initiative could expose the city to litigation.
“We disagree with Sacramento on a lot of things. Are we not going to follow state law every time we disagree with them?” he said. “I don’t think that would be prudent.”
It’s unclear how the ordinance will be implemented, and Mayor Pro Tem Warren Kusumoto, who proposed the initiative, said it may end up being largely symbolic.
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