L.A. mayor expands immigrant protections

LOS ANGELES — Mayor Eric Garcetti on Tuesday expanded protections for immigrants who are in the country illegally, emphasizing the city’s refusal to help enforce the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

An executive directive asks the fire chief and chiefs of the airport and port police to follow the Police Department’s decades-old policy of not investigating individuals solely to determine their immigration status.

Los Angeles “champions inclusiveness and tolerance, and welcomes everyone who seeks to realize their dreams and build their families here, regardless of national origin or immigration status,” Garcetti’s directive said.

Immigrants are the “engine” of the Los Angeles economy, with nearly two out of three residents foreign-born or children of immigrants, Garcetti said.

The directive bars any city employee from cooperating with the enforcement of federal civil immigration laws or allowing use of city money or resources for such enforcement unless legally required to do so.

Additionally, workers cannot give federal immigration agents special access to any city facility unless legally required to do so.

Jails and police agencies around the U.S. have opted in recent years not to cooperate with immigration authorities, in some cases citing federal court rulings that immigrants cannot be held in those jails strictly because of their immigration status. Other jurisdictions have passed local ordinances barring cooperation.