08-02-2025
Central California cities are pursuing sanctuary policies. Here's what that means
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In the Central Valley, multiple municipalities are considering becoming sanctuaries to undocumented immigrants as the federal government pursues mass deportations.
Though there is no single definition for these so-called sanctuary cities, they generally entail cities that pledge to welcome immigrants and prevent their local law enforcement from aiding in federal deportation efforts.
But cities such as Madera and Kerman looking to make statements of public support for undocumented immigrants are also considering the possible repercussions. Local leaders are treading lightly on how they word official resolutions.
The Trump administration already ordered a pause on federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions. The president's team has also sued officials in Chicago, Illinois, arguing that the city's sanctuary policies block federal immigration enforcement operations.
Trump took similar actions during the his first term. Those attempts failed in federal courts, but his new barrage of directives have created many unknowns for cities wondering how they can advocate for their undocumented residents.
'It's a fluid situation,' Madera City Manager Arnoldo Rodriguez told council members Wednesday. 'It seems like some of these rules are changing daily, and we're attempting our best to keep up with them.'
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Livingston, in Merced County, became the Central Valley's first sanctuary city in 2017. The city of Huron, in Fresno County, became the second last month.
Both cities did so through nonbinding resolutions rather than ordinances, which are generally reserved for more permanent government rulings.
In Tulare County, the Lindsay City Council decided before Trump's inauguration to discuss sanctuary status at a future date.
Some residents in Kerman and Madera want their lawmakers to take stances in support of immigrants. Some have called for a resolution that at least communicates that immigrants are valued, while others want a declaration of sanctuary status.
But for local officials, there is too much uncertainty for sanctuary cities this early in Trump's presidency. In Madera, where about 25% of residents live below the poverty line, officials considered that the city currently has access to millions of dollars in federal funding.
Madera City Attorney Shannon Chaffin said a lot has changed since Trump's first failed attempts at withholding federal funding from sanctuary cities.
'The greatest risk is declaring yourself a sanctuary city and attempting to thwart federal enforcement operations,' he told the council. 'You will run into problems, and California is on the radar.'
Madera councilmembers will instead consider a resolution that identifies Madera as a place of 'unity' that is 'welcoming' to all. In Kerman, councilmembers will consider a resolution that informs residents that local police do not enforce federal immigration laws.
Generally, a sanctuary city is a jurisdiction — a city, county or state — that decides 'it will not use its resources to engage in federal immigration enforcement,' said Bill Hing, professor of law and migration studies at the University of San Francisco.
'The idea of sanctuary jurisdictions is that you do your work, but you don't ask about immigration status,' said Hing, who is also the founder of the nonprofit Immigrant Legal Resource Center. This is so that, when the federal government inquiries about someone's immigration status, 'you don't know anything, then you just say you don't know anything.'
Another main part of sanctuary ordinances is not contacting federal officials even when a jurisdiction knows someone is undocumented.
Technically, local jurisdictions in California that don't have sanctuary ordinances are still subject to the state's sanctuary law that took effect in 2018. Known as the California Values Act, it prohibits local police from asking for someone's immigration status or using local resources to assist in federal immigration enforcement.
There are exceptions in sanctuary cities and state law that allow officials to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement iflocal law enforcement detains an undocumented immigrant charged with serious violent crimes, including murder, sexual assault and kidnapping, Hing said.
Niels Frenzen, a professor at the USC Gould School of Law, said the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation routinely turns non-citizens with serious felony convictions over to ICE.
'So sanctuary does not protect non-citizens with serious felony convictions,' he said.
Sanctuary cities also do not stop federal immigration agents from carrying out enforcement operations.
Hing said that the term sanctuary can be misleading because it carries a social or religious connotation, such as churches that allow undocumented immigrants to seek refuge.
'It's not about standing guard at the border of Merced and saying ICE cannot come in here,' he said. 'That's not ever required of a sanctuary ordinance.'
Both law professors also disputed the claim that sanctuary cities encourage crime, citing that several studies have provided empirical evidence for the opposite. Hing said sanctuary ordinances enhance public safety because they allow all residents, regardless of immigration status, to trust that they can call local police for help.
'The main reason for these ordinances is to make sure that victims and witnesses to crime actually come forward,' he said. 'If those witnesses or victims are from an immigrant community and they're worried that, 'If I report this I'm going to get deported because they're going to report me to ICE,' they won't come forward.'
During his first term, Trump tried to block federal funding to sanctuary cities by conditioning federal funds with compliance, Hing said.
Hing said federal courts have ruled that federal funding can have conditions, but that those conditions have to be included in legislation passed by Congress. For example, Hing said, federal highway funds require jurisdictions to enforce the federal speed limit.
This time around, Hing said, the Trump administration could push Congress to approve amendments to federal grant legislation that include conditions against sanctuary cities.
The federal government's attempts to penalize sanctuary cities are setting the stage for years of legal battles.
'I expect that blue states and blue municipalities and counties will be on the target list,' Frenzen said.
However, Trump's crackdown on sanctuary cities could weigh against the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Frenzen said. Using the 'anti-commandeering' doctrine, the Supreme Court has ruled that 'the federal government cannot commandeer states, cannot use state resources, for things that the federal government wants them to do,' he said.
The Supreme Court cited the 10th Amendment when it struck down a requirement in the Affordable Care Act in 2012.
'The anti-commandeering statute doesn't mean that Trump isn't going to sue,' Frenzen said, 'but it doesn't mean that a city is going to lose.'
