Los Angeles Municipal Code Ch. 19 Prohibition of the Use of City Resources for Federal

IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

Section 19.194 Adoption of Policy. 19.195 Severability.

For purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases are defined as follows:

“Citizenship or Immigration Status” shall mean all information or classification regarding citizenship of the United States or any other country, place of birth, the authority to reside in or otherwise be present in the United States, including visa status, and the time or manner of a person’s entry into the United States.

“Immigration Agent” means an individual engaged in Immigration Enforcement against natural persons, including agents employed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and all other individuals authorized to conduct Immigration Enforcement against natural persons under 8 U.S.C. § 1357(g) or any other federal law.

“Immigration Enforcement” means any and all efforts to investigate, enforce, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law against natural persons, and also includes any and all efforts to investigate, enforce, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes a natural person’s presence in, entry, or reentry to, or employment in, the United States.

SECTION HISTORY

Chapter and Section Added by Ord. No. 188,441, Eff. 12-19-24.

Unless required by federal or state law, no City resources, including, but not limited to, City personnel and City property, shall be utilized to:

(a) Inquire into or collect information about an individual’s Citizenship or Immigration Status, unless such information is necessary

to provide a City service, including the provision of immigration and naturalization assistance, for election-related purposes or appointment to a City office or commission, or as required for purposes of City employment or the disbursement of City funds.

(b) Investigate, cite, arrest, hold, transfer, or detain any person for the purpose of Immigration Enforcement, except as authorized

under California Government Code Section 7284.6(b)(1). Prior to conducting any probable cause arrest for a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) that may be subject to the enhancement specified in 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2), or prior to transferring a suspect to an Immigration Agent based on a probable cause arrest for a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) that may be subject to the enhancement specified in 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2), City personnel shall obtain approval from their respective department’s designated immigrant affairs liaison.

(c) Respond to any administrative warrant or other request to detain, transfer, or notify any Immigration Agent about the status or

release of any individual for the purpose of Immigration Enforcement.

(d) Provide any Immigration Agent access to any non-public areas of property owned or controlled by the City, including City jails,

for the purpose of Immigration Enforcement.

(e) Make any person in City custody available to any Immigration Agent for an interview for the purpose of Immigration

Enforcement.

(f) Participate in Immigration Enforcement in any operation, joint operation, or joint task force involving any Immigration Agent.

SECTION HISTORY

Chapter and Section Added by Ord. No. 188,441, Eff. 12-19-24.

Except as required by 8 U.S.C. § 1373 or other applicable federal or state law, no City personnel shall provide access to any City data or information that can be used to determine or trace a person’s Citizenship or Immigration Status to any Immigration Agent. In furtherance of this restriction, as of the effective date of this ordinance, City personnel shall not provide City data or information that can be used to determine or trace a person’s Citizenship or Immigration Status to any City contractor unless the contractor first agrees in writing to prohibit the contractor’s employees and subcontractors from providing that data or information to any Immigration Agent, to the extent permitted by law. All City employees shall treat information that can be used to distinguish or trace a person’s Citizenship or Immigration Status, either on its own or when combined with other information, as confidential information, to the extent permitted by law, and shall handle, maintain, and secure such information according to the standards for confidential information set forth in City policy.

SECTION HISTORY

Chapter and Section Added by Ord. No. 188,441, Eff. 12-19-24.

Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit or otherwise restrict the City from complying with a valid warrant for a criminal offense issued by a federal or state judge, or other order evidencing a judicial determination of probable cause.

SECTION HISTORY

Chapter and Section Added by Ord. No. 188,441, Eff. 12-19-24.

To the extent that some City departments are, by terms of the charter, exempt from the prohibitions in this chapter, they are strongly encouraged to adopt policies consonant with the provisions contained herein.

SECTION HISTORY

Chapter and Section Added by Ord. No. 188,441, Eff. 12-19-24.

If any subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this chapter is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this chapter, and each and every subsection, sentence, clause, and phrase thereof not declared invalid or unconstitutional, without regard to whether any portion of the chapter would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.

SECTION HISTORY

Chapter and Section Added by Ord. No. 188,441, Eff. 12-19-24.