The Democratic mayor of Los Angeles vowed Wednesday to resist the Trump administration’s orders on immigration despite threats from the White House that the city could lose federal funding.
Eric Garcetti told BuzzFeed on Wednesday that the city would continue to resist the administration in the face of a new directive from Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordering cities to notify the Department of Homeland Security at least 48 hours before releasing undocumented immigrant detainees.
In an interview with Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith, Garcetti blasted the White House’s policies as making the city “less safe.”
“We will not change what we are doing and our values are not for sale,” Garcetti said Wednesday. “This decision was more of the kind of ideological rhetoric that actually makes us less safe.”
Garcetti claims the request from the Justice Department would violate the Constitution, explaining that it would be illegal for local authorities to detain undocumented immigrants longer for Homeland Security agents.
“What they’re asking the city to do is in violation of the Constitution,” Garcetti said.
{mosads}Los Angeles, unlike its neighbor San Francisco, has not adopted an official “sanctuary city” policy that would prohibit local authorities from complying with federal immigration authorities.
The new directive from Sessions is part of a broader initiative by the Trump administration to crack down on sanctuary cities. On Tuesday, Sessions announced the campaign against sanctuary cities, accusing them of trying to “intentionally undermine” federal law.
“So-called sanctuary policies make all of us less safe because they intentionally undermine our laws and protect illegal aliens who have committed crimes,” Sessions said in a statement.
“These policies also encourage illegal immigration and even human trafficking by perpetuating the lie that in certain cities, illegal aliens can live outside the law.”
Under the new directive, cities must provide immigration agents with access to jails and give a two-day notice before releasing an undocumented immigrant from custody or risk funding being cut off.