Resistance to Trump's Sanctuary Policies Spreads in Bay Area

San Francisco officials aren't the only Bay Area leaders taking a strong stand against President Donald Trump's move to cut federal funding from sanctuary jurisdictions.

On Tuesday — a day after San Francisco announced  a lawsuit against the Trump administration — elected officials in Santa Rosa, Oakland and Santa Clara County cast votes showing their commitment to protecting undocumented residents and pushing back against Trump's anti-immigrant policies. The moves comes a week after Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to cut grants to local governments that refuse to use local police or resources to enforce U.S. immigration law.

Here's a rundown of the action each jurisdiction took:

• Santa Clara County supervisors voted unanimously to move forward with a lawsuit, similar to San Francisco's, challenging Trump's order to strip sanctuary cities and counties of federal funds.
• Oakland joined Los Angeles and other cities that are putting public funds into deportation defense funds. The City Council voted to put $300,000 over the next 18 months into a "rapid response network" made up of 12 groups that will help local families facing deportations.
• Santa Rosa's City Council voted to explore protecting their immigration population, possibly by becoming a sanctuary city. The vote came after people in favor of expanding immigration protections packed the City Council chambers wearing red shirts. Councilman Ernesto Olivares said he was touched seeing the group, noting he was an immigrant who arrived in the U.S. as a child: "These people are telling me I am welcome here. Nobody has ever told me that. I mean, it's assumed, but to see it and to see it in the faces of the audience -- the majority of them did not look like me, but yet they cared enough to come to the council to speak for everybody," he said. "And that's what we need to be doing, (asking), 'How do I speak for everyone and not just my own special interests or needs?' "

Local officials said they aren't trying to pick a fight with Trump but are acting to keep their communities safe. Oakland officials, for example, noted in a report that more than 25 percent of its residents are immigrants.

Many such residents won't feel comfortable sending their kids to school, seeking medical care or reporting crimes if they know that local officials are going to ask about their immigration status or turn them over to federal officials, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said.

In his executive order, Trump stated that sanctuary jurisdictions "willfully violate federal law in an attempt to shield aliens from removal of the United States,” and "have caused immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our republic.”

But in the lawsuit he filed, Herrera questioned who was violating federal law.

“Obey the rule of law. Abide by the constitution. We are a nation of laws, not of men, right?" he said. "You're not an emperor who rules by fiat. We all have to abide by the rule of law and we are going to make that clear."

Olivares said Santa Rosa intends to  defend other classes of citizens — such as LGBT individuals — who could face attack under a Trump presidency.

"The issue is, how are people, residents in our community feeling?" he asked. "Are they going to feel safe?"