The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously last week to become a "sanctuary city," categorically withholding any municipal assistance to federal immigration authorities despite a bevy of illegal immigrants arrested there for violent crimes and even violence against children this year.
The 13-0 vote last Tuesday comes weeks after President-elect Donald Trump's ballot-box victory and in the same year that dozens of illegal immigrants were picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers in the L.A. metro area for murder, homicide and assault against children.
So far this year, Los Angeles ERO has arrested 1,263 illegal immigrants in the metro area so far this year, and 715 of them had criminal convictions, according to ICE data. The agency gathered 19,726 noncitizens between 2021 and 2024, and 7,255 of them, about 36%, had prior criminal convictions.
That includes 26 illegal immigrants with pending charges or convictions for murder, homicide and assault against children who were arrested in the Los Angeles area during a nationwide operation from Jan. 16-28, ICE said.
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Among them were one Mexican citizen, 47, who was wanted in his country for human trafficking, specifically recruitment for the purpose of sexual exploitation; a 36-year-old Mexican living in Harbor City and wanted in his home country for homicide committed in connection to a robbery of the victim; and a 39-year-old El Salvadorean who had already been convicted of forcible oral copulation of a victim under 14 years.
"The men and women of ERO Los Angeles are mission-driven and dedicated to the safety of our communities and neighborhoods," ERO Los Angeles acting Field Office Director Ernesto Santacruz wrote in a press release in January. "The outcome of this operation is another example of their continued professionalism, integrity and commitment to safeguard the homeland."
On Feb. 1, the agency apprehended a 27-year-old El Salvador native in Los Angeles after he had been convicted in a U.S. court of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old and possession of child pornography.
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Between Jan. 23 and Feb. 6, the agency apprehended 16 more noncitizens, some of whom had final orders of removal and all of whom were wanted for possessing or trafficking methamphetamine, fentanyl or heroin.
Among them was a 41-year-old Mexican who had been convicted on felony charges in Orange County for the sale of cocaine/amphetamine in 2017. Another 41-year-old Mexican citizen, who had previously been convicted of possession of methamphetamine and had been removed from the country in 2006, was picked up again by the agency.
Los Angeles-based attorney Leo Terrell told Fox News Digital that by establishing their city as a sanctuary in opposition to the federal government, the city is "basically protecting criminals from being deported" in a move that will "act as a magnet for criminals."
"Guess who's going to run [sanctuary cities like] L.A. and Boston? Criminals – they're getting protection from the government," Terrell said. "This is a signal to anyone who is an illegal who has committed a crime to run to Los Angeles."
The Los Angeles City Council did not respond to a request for comment.
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ICE "focuses on the arrest of noncitizens who have committed crimes," according to the agency, and "on those who pose a threat to national security, public safety, or border security."
This includes immigrants who face final orders of removal or court-ordered deportation issued by a U.S. judge, of which there are approximately 1.4 million in the country.
The attorney said the federal government's power supersedes the city's and that the federal government could "file a federal lawsuit to find out the constitutionality of sanctuary cities when it impedes the federal government's rights."
He also said that law-abiding citizens could be put in danger as a result of the decision.
"The city will have information, maybe incarcerate some of these convicted illegals [and not share that information with federal authorities]," Terrell said. "What this will require is that the feds will have to go into the communities with weapons to remove these criminals… they may be in the city jail, but due to [L.A.'s] alleged lack of cooperation, they're going to make the feds' job more dangerous [and] they're going to put citizens in the neighborhoods' lives in danger."
