A New Sanctuary City – Not Culver City

A recent conversation with Police Chief Scott Bixby was a reminder that sanctuary cities are the rage these days, especially on the eve of Donald J. Trump’s ascendancy to the presidency.

Two nights ago, the City Council of heavily immigrant Santa Ana, Orange County’s second largest city, unanimously approved the special status – which used to be an outlier.

Culver City is not a sanctuary city, and will not become one.

Nevertheless, both the School District and the Police Dept. publicly have taken steps to assure potential targets of immigration authorities that they will be shielded in Culver City.

Days after Mr. Trump’s election, the School Board easily, painlessly, established safe zones, guaranteeing parents that despite the president-elect’s campaign threats, their children will not be removed from campus.

Despite reports elsewhere across the country, Chief Bixby said there has not been a bump in hometown hate crimes since Election Day.

“The whole purpose of my letter to the community (posted on Nov. 25),” said the chief, “was to reassure people that this is the way we do things in Culver City. Nothing has changed in our policies and procedures.”

Santa Ana will be the closest fleeing destination to Culver City.

Santa Ana is 46 percent immigrant.

The new Santa Ana ordinance, quoting the Orange County Register, “requires the city to implement policies that include prohibiting the use of city resources for immigration enforcement, protecting sensitive information, preventing biased-based policing. It directs law enforcement officials to exercise discretion to cite and release individuals instead of detaining them at a local facility or county jail based on the nature of the alleged crime.”

In addition to increasing training for “affected officials,” the ordinance will establish a task force of community members to advise the City Council on immigration policies.