The city of Los Angeles made one of the most aggressive moves yet to protect its undocumented immigrant population from deportations they fear may be coming under the Trump administration.
The city of Los Angeles announced a plan to create a $10 million legal fund to help immigrants who may face deportation in upcoming months. The plan still must be approved by lawmakers, according to the Los Angeles Times. The L.A. Times reported that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the city council still had to approve of the plan.
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer told the Los Angeles Times that the point of the fund is to make sure there is “more fairness and more effectiveness in the immigration system” and that immigrants who have legal help are better positioned to fight their deportation than immigrants without such support.
The move represents just the latest way some Democratic states may fight back against Trump’s vision for the country. It is unclear exactly what Trump plans to do with the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants who live in the U.S., but during the campaign Trump argued that they should be deported. Later, he attempted to soften his stance, but he never clearly articulated what would happen to those who are undocumented.
On Capitol Hill, a bipartisan group of senators has already started laying the groundwork to protect DREAMers, children who were brought to the country illegally as children, but may need legal protection if Trump overturns President Barack Obama’s executive action that shielded them from deportation.
The fund in Los Angeles includes $10 million, with half of the money coming from the city and county governments. The other half would come from donations.
If approved the fund could have a significant effect in trying to stall the Trump administration’s tough immigration agenda Trump campaigned on. It is estimated that roughly 1 million of the 11 million undocumented. immigrants nationwide live in Los Angeles County.
