As state and city leaders prepare for President Donald Trump’s immigration-focused professional orders to take effect in their areas, some Democratic-leaning regions have now passed legislation and measures to safeguard them from being forced to use their assets at Trump’s demand.
In orange cities and states, regional lawmakers have enacted several laws that give federal authorities in their states the right to refuse to work with the federal government in some abilities.
Here is how some states and cities are planning to stay their assets away from Trump:
Colorado
A 2019 Colorado law restricts state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials ’ efforts to arrest, detain, or gather migrants ’ personal information. Law enforcement bodies in Colorado you refuse to support national immigration agents on legal matters or provide details about an specific wanted by national immigration agents.
Denver will likely be a target city for federal agents to carry out their deportation plans. The Denver Police Department has policies in place that prevent police officers from asking witnesses or victims of a crime about their immigration status.
According to Mayor Mike Johnston, Denver was the single largest recipient of migrants per capita of any city in the country in 2024 after Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX ) started bussing migrants crossing the southern border into Texas to Democratic-run cities and states.
Johnston previously said the city will not aid or support Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents when and if they come to Denver.
City officials have, however, developed a four-point plan for how to respond to anticipated ICE sweeps, which includes directives to collaborate with the federal government on the detention of violent criminals, similar to how the city proceeded under former President Joe Biden, according to CNN.
California
California’s largest cities, Los Angeles and San Francisco, have branded themselves as sanctuary cities for immigrants. In the weeks after Trump was elected last year, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted to adopt a “sanctuary city ” ordinance.
Both cities also have local ordinances that bar city employees from aiding ICE unless required by federal law.
The Los Angeles Unified School District joined, reaffirming its policy that bars school personnel from voluntarily cooperating with immigration enforcement or sharing information about the immigration status of students and families with immigration agencies.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 17 other attorneys general across the United States are additionally suing the Trump administration for an executive order, which he said ends birthright citizenship.
Birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment and has previously been interpreted by the Supreme Court to grant citizenship to anyone born on U. S. soil regardless of the citizenship status of their parents.
“The President’s executive order attempting to rescind birthright citizenship is blatantly unconstitutional and quite frankly, un-American, ” Bonta said in a statement.
Chicago
The Chicago City Council last week proposal-local-police-aid-deportations/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener” title=””>shot down a proposal to allow the Chicago Police Department to cooperate with ICE officials. The proposal would have allowed Chicago police to “work with federal immigration officers or agencies ” when someone is arrested or convicted for “drug-related activities, ” “gang-related activities, ” “prostitution-related activities, ” or a “sex crime involving a minor. ”
Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance prohibits the city ’s police department from working and coordinating with federal immigration enforcement. CPD cannot “arrest, detain or continue to detain a person solely on the belief that the person is not present legally in the United States, or that the person has committed a civil immigration violation, ” even if ICE requests so.
Police in Chicago are also largely banned from asking someone about their immigration status.
The state-level Illinois TRUST Act additionally largely prohibits that same type of coordination with federal agents across the state. CPD said in a statement it was against the proposal because it said it violated Illinois state law.
Chicago Public Schools sent a letter to families reassuring them the district has policies in place to protect students and staff from immigration enforcement.
Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL ) expressed his support for migrant families in Illinois in a Monday social media post.
Pritzker said the situation is “chaos” in the state, telling reporters the Trump administration has not communicated its plans.
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“We can’t stop Homeland Security from coming into the state of Illinois. They are allowed to do that, ” Pritzker said. “Indeed, we want them to come into our state when they are doing things that are lawful when they are doing things that are consistent with the values of the American public.
“We are not standing in their way. We are standing up for the people of Illinois and make sure we are not letting them be taken advantage of, ” he continued.
