Malibu residents declared their coveted beachfront community a “sanctuary city” during a Malibu City Hall meeting last week.
“While some residents praised the proposal, others blamed those who are in the country illegally for crime, and called the move a thinly disguised rebuke of President Trump,” wrote the Los Angeles Times, which was present at the event.
According to the Times, actor-turned-activist Martin Sheen suggested the idea of making Malibu a sanctuary city back in December.
The median household income in Malibu is over $120,000 annually.
Councilwoman Laura Rosenthal was reportedly inspired by Sheen’s speech in December. “I think some people in Malibu have people working for them who are undocumented,” Rosenthal reportedly said during last week’s meeting.
A 2010 census shows that Hispanics make up just 6 percent of Malibu’s population, while 91 percent of the oceanside community is white. However, a sizable proportion of the beach city’s service workforce is Latino.
Last December, California State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) introduced State Senate Bill 54, which seeks to declare all of California a “sanctuary state.” Last week, over 100 people gathered in front of the Hall of Justice in Downtown Los Angeles to protest L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell’s opposition to the bill.
According to the Los Angeles Daily News, protesters held up signs that read, “One struggle, united” and “We demand immigrant rights.”
Last month, 161 illegal aliens were arrested throughout Southern California by federal immigration authorities. The raids took place over the course of several days and resulted in the arrests of 680 illegal aliens across multiple states. That, in turn, upset many of the state’s Democratic lawmakers.
In January, Oakland — one of California’s many sanctuary cities — set up a $300,000 anti-deportation fund in response to President Trump’s executive order that aims to cut off federal funds to “jurisdictions that willfully refuse to comply” with federal immigration enforcement.
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