Mayor's Executive Order 20

ERIC GARCETTI

MAYOR

EXECUTIVE DIRECTIVE NO. 20

Issue Date: March 21, 2017

Subject: Standing with Immigrants: A City of Safety, Refuge, and Opportunity for All

Since our City's founding, Los Angeles has always been a city of immigrants. The very first Angelenos—Los Pot/adores—arrived here 236 years ago, a small band of settlers who traced their ancestry from all over the world, including to the native people of this region, and who saw opportunity where the mountains meet the sea. In the centuries since, we have grown into the most diverse city on the face of the earth—a city that champions inclusiveness and tolerance, and welcomes everyone who seeks to realize their dreams and build their families here, regardless of national origin or immigration status.

Today, more than 1.5 million residents of our city are foreign-born, and nearly two of every three Angelenos are either immigrants or children of immigrants. Our immigrants are the engine of the Los Angeles economy, representing 47 percent of the employed workforce in our city and more than half of the self-employed workforce— entrepreneurship that generated $3.5 billion in income in 2014 alone. Even more so, our immigrants have woven the social, cultural, and civic fabric of Los Angeles, from our educational institutions to our artistic stages, from the halls of government to community activism, from our vibrant culinary scene to our fields of play.

I have a longstanding commitment to immigrants in Los Angeles. As a City Councilmember, I proposed establishing an Office of Immigrant Affairs, prompting Mayor James K. Hahn's decision to create the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs. Upon becoming Mayor, I immediately re-established this Office to advance the economic, cultural, social, and political well-being of our immigrant communities with initiatives that support immigrant integration through the coordination of City services, outreach, and advocacy. My vision is to ensure aIIAngeIenos, regardless of immigration status, are connected to community resources, have access to critical government services, are engaged in civic life, and are informed about critical immigration law and policy.

My most solemn responsibility as Mayor is to keep all of our city's people safe, and I strongly support the Police Department's longstanding policies with respect to immigration enforcement, which are rooted in the principle that all of Los Angeles is safer when the Police Department maintains a relationship of trust, respect, and cooperation with all city residents. When people feel confident that they can come forward as a victim of or witness to a crime, irrespective of immigration status, the Police Department's ability to protect and serve all is enhanced. The Police Department maintains the following policies, all of which are consistent with federal and state laws and court decisions:

• Special Order 40—Since 1979, when the Chief of Police issued Special Order 40, the Police Department has maintained a policy that prohibits police officers from initiating any action to determine a person's immigration status and from arresting anyone due to the person's civil immigration status.

• ICE detainer policy—Since 2014, in light of multiple court decisions finding compliance with certain United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests to be unconstitutional, the Police Department has not honored any ICE request to hold an individual otherwise eligible for release from custody absent a judicial determination of probable cause for that detainer or a valid warrant from a judicial officer.

• Policy against partnering with ICE to enforce civil immigration law—Because civil immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and it is vital to public safety for the Police Department to build public trust in all communities in Los Angeles, the Police Department has never participated and will not participate in the voluntary program authorized by section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1357 (2012), or any other similar program. Section 287(g) permits designated local law enforcement officers to perform civil immigration enforcement.

  All residents of Los Angeles must feel safe and supported when accessing the vast array of City facilities, programs, and services available to them. The City will not assist or cooperate with any effort by federal immigration agents to use public facilities or resources for the purposes of enforcing federal civil immigration law.

  Moreover, to ensure that they will avail themselves of City services, programs, and resources, all Angelenos must have confidence that doing so will not place themselves or their families in peril due to their immigration status being unnecessarily solicited or their personal data being left unprotected.

  Accordingly, I hereby order the following:

  Keeping immigrant Angelenos safe:

• The Chief of Police shall reaffirm and maintain the Police Department's existing policies and procedures with respect to immigration enforcement, including the policy that originated in Special Order 40, the ICE detainer policy, and the policy against partnering with ICE to perform civil immigration enforcement.

• The Fire Chief, the Chief of Airport Police, and the Chief of Port Police shall issue policies and procedures consistent with the Police Department's existing policies and procedures with respect to immigration enforcement, including the policy that originated in Special Order 40, the ICE detainer policy, and the policy against partnering with ICE to perform civil immigration enforcement.

• No person acting in his or her capacity as a City employee shall assist or cooperate with, or allow any City monies or resources to be used to assist or cooperate with, any federal agent or agency in any action where the primary purpose is federal civil immigration enforcement.

• No City employee shall grant any federal immigration agent access to any City facility not open to the general public unless such access is legally required.

• All General Managers, Heads of Departments/Offices, and Commissions of City Government shall report to my Chief of Immigrant Affairs and the Chief of Police any efforts by federal immigration enforcement officials from ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to enforce federal civil immigration laws with the cooperation, support, or use of City resources or facilities.

  Providing equal access to City services to all Angelenos of any immigration status:

• All General Managers, Heads of Departments/Offices, and Commissions of City Government shall:

  • ensure equal access to facilities, services, and programs without regard to any person's citizenship or immigration status to the maximum extent that the law permits; and
  • foster a welcoming atmosphere for all regardless of immigration status.

Protecting the security of immigrant Angelenos’data and information:

• No City employee shall collect information from individuals that is not necessary to perform the employee's duties. In particular, no City employee shall collect information regarding a person's citizenship or immigration status unless legally required to do so or mandated by policy to protect victims and witnesses of crimes.
• I hereby deem any information in the City's possession that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's citizenship or immigration status, either on its own or when combined with other information, to be Personally Identifiable Information (PII). All City employees shall treat PII as Confidential Information as allowed by law and shall handle, maintain, and secure such information according to the standards for Confidential Information that the Information Technology Policy Committee established in the Information Handling Guidelines, Policy No. IT-017, effective May 19, 2016, as updated, which are available from the Information Technology Agency.

Engaging and empowering immigrant Angelenos:

• All General Managers, Heads of Departments/Offices, and Commissions of City Government shall:

  • make available at public facilities printed copies of the Community Resource Guide for Immigrant Angelenos that my Office of Immigrant Affairs prepared;
  • ensure that all City websites link to the Community Resource Guide for Immigrant Angelenos from the websites' homepages;
  • inform their staffs of the policies and practices outlined in this Executive Directive and of the availability of the Community Resource Guide for Immigrant Angelenos, and encourage their staffs to share this information with their families and networks; and
  • encourage employees to take part in volunteer and civic engagement opportunities to protect our city's immigrant populations and to strengthen our status that are posted at https://www.lamayor.ors/immigrants

Coordinating City actions for immigrants:

• Each General Manager or Head of Department/Office shall designate an Immigrant Affairs Liaison for the Department/Office, notifying my Chief of Immigrant Affairs of that person's name and contact information (including when there is a subsequent personnel change or change to that person's contact information).

• The Immigrant Affairs Liaisons shall work closely with my Chief of Immigrant Affairs and her staff to ensure departmental support in advancing and advocating for the full and active civic, social, political, and economic participation of immigrant Angelenos of any status.

Executed this 21st day of March 2017.

ERIC GARCETTI

Mayor