LA City Council Ready For Showdown With Trump On Immigration
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — In an unprecedented show of unity, Los Angeles City Council Members vowed to protect undocumented immigrants from whatever the next president may have planned.
CBS2's Dave Lopez got the details from a historic day at City Hall.
Two different motions were signed by seven different members that will allow the city to challenge the new administration.
Council member Gil Cedillo will head up a committee that will answer the questions of whether or not Los Angeles is a sanctuary city, and, if it is, can Donald Trump withhold funding because it is?
Of the 1.5 million foreign-born people living in L.A., just over 850,000 are undocumented immigrants.
Council members say they don't know exactly what Trump will require regarding undocumented immigrants, so they need to be prepared.
At stake would be $500 million in federal grants.
The Los Angeles Police Department relies on $50 million of those grants to fund its operations.
"It's a significant amount of money," said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. "It would definitely affect us. Having said that, no amount of money is a substitute for doing the right thing."
Council members are hoping that there's no need for a showdown with the next president but are prepared to do battle in Washington if they have to.
