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Protestors call for city council to officially make LA a sanctuary city
Protestors want the city council to codify protections for undocumented immigrants by passing an ordinance.
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Jacob Margolis
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This morning in Downtown Los Angeles, protesters called for the city council to adopt an ordinance that would stop the city from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement, officially making L.A. a sanctuary city. This comes a year and a half after the council passed a motion saying that an ordinance should be written up within 60 days.
"This ordinance has been languishing for two years at City Council," said Felipe Carceres, a campaign coordinator with the Service Employees International Union.
"[The city needs to] make sure that undocumented workers know that the city of L.A. is a place where we're not going to have collaboration with ICE for anything."
The march went from Pershing Square to City Hall.
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Jacob Margolis
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LAist
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The march is taking place just five days after the election of Donald Trump, who has promised to deport millions of undocumented immigrants living in the country, and overhaul the refugee resettlement program.
Maria, a high school teacher who works for the Los Angeles Unified School District, was at the protest and said that over the last few days, students have asked her whether ICE could show up at their school, and about the possibility that they could see their own family members get deported.
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• 3:58
March for immigrant rights underway in downtown LA
"It's a very difficult place to be because we don't have answers," said Maria, who asked that LAist withhold her last name over concerns for her job security.
On Friday, former L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell was confirmed by the city council as the new LAPD chief. Immigrant rights activists took the opportunity to voice their concerns over whether the police department would work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). McDonnell said that he would not.
Read more about the confirmation from LAist's Frank Stoltze here.
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