Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed an ordinance today codifying components of her Executive Directive 17, prohibiting the use of City property for federal immigration enforcement operations.
Bass issued Executive Directive 17 in February to build on the City's efforts to combat federal overreach by the Trump administration and to prohibit the use of City property for staging immigration enforcement actions. Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson introduced a motion to codify the directive, seconded by Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martínez, Eunisses Hernandez, Ysabel Jurado, Curren Price, and Bob Blumenfield. The motion was adopted unanimously, and the City Council approved the draft ordinance for the Mayor's signature.
The ordinance requires signage at City-owned lots or areas with open space stating the property may not be used for staging, processing, or operations purposes by immigration enforcement agents. It also requires City departments to physically secure their sites to restrict unauthorized access by federal agents to non-public areas of City facilities, and requires City contractors and bidders to disclose data sharing agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
"The immigration raids may have left our daily headlines, but they haven't stopped. We cannot let our guard down," Bass said. "That's why I'm proud that critical components of my Executive Directive 17 will be enshrined in City code. City government must be a source of trust and protection for the people we serve."
Harris-Dawson said, "Los Angeles belongs to all who call it home, and our duty to protect every resident is absolute. Thank you to Mayor Bass for providing the clear and decisive leadership to rebuke the assault on our undocumented neighbors."
Soto-Martínez said codifying the directive "makes clear that City resources will not be used to help federal immigration enforcement, and that Angelenos have a right to know what's happening in their own city." Jurado said the ordinance creates "lasting safeguards for our public spaces and strengthening accountability in how the City does business."
LAUSD Superintendent Andrés E. Chait said, "No parent should have to choose between their child's education and their family's sense of safety." Angelica Salas, Executive Director of CHIRLA, said the ordinance "sends a clear message that Los Angeles will not allow its public resources to be used to facilitate federal immigration enforcement."