Another Bay Area City Steps Up Its Sanctuary Policies in the Face of Trump’s Threats

The East Bay’s city of Richmond is strengthening its sanctuary city status after a unanimous City Council vote on Tuesday night.

The council approved a proposal that bars the use of city personnel and resources in assisting federal immigration enforcement officers or asking individuals about their citizenship status.

The proposal, submitted by the City Attorney’s office, follows a string of the city’s immigrant protection laws that were deemed no longer sufficient to protect Richmond’s immigrant population.

The proposal also suggested banning city personnel from aiding federal immigration enforcement to “gather or disseminate information regarding [the] release status of individuals or any other such personal information.”

In their meeting, the council raised the point that they were already closely following the practices outlined in the proposal.

In response, Kimberly Chen, Senior Assistant at the City Attorney’s office, said codifying the practices was crucial to have better protections and precedent in the instance that the Trump administration took retaliatory action against the city.

“The City and County of San Francisco vs. Trump case did hold that the president exceeded his authority and violated the separation of powers when directing administrative agencies to withhold funding from jurisdictions that adopted sanctuary policies,” Chen said.

Although supportive of the proposal, Councilmember Jamelia Brown raised concerns about the approximately $62.3 million in federal funding that the city of Richmond receives and the possibility of the Trump administration withholding them in retaliation.

“We are standing with the undocumented community, but if we are putting critical funding at risk, then we’re leaving out another group of individuals who we serve daily,” Brown said.

Dozens of citizens attended to voice their opinions, with the majority largely in favor of the proposal.

“California pays more in taxes to the federal government than it receives from the federal government,” said Elsa Stevens, a citizen who took the stand. “So if we are to be punished for being kind to new people, then maybe we should withhold funds.”

Only one citizen was not in favor — he began to berate the council, the Richmond police chief, and those who showed up in support of the proposal until he was gently escorted out.

After the vote, the council moved to amend the ordinance with more data protection items, per their legal team’s review.

“Fear is real,” Brown said, but I also want to acknowledge that fear can be exploited.”