California's "sanctuary" movement has surprising conservative roots
L.A.’s right-wing police chief Daryl Gates told his officers not to enforce immigration laws — nearly 40 years ago
PAUL ROSENBERG
03.11.2018•12:00 PM
Attorney General Jeff Sessions' announcement that the federal government would sue the state of California over three laws protecting undocumented immigrants naturally feeds into a classic liberal vs. conservative storyline, and the way California politicians responded mirrors that as well. If Sessions brought culture war, their focus was less culture, more war.
“This is basically going to war against the state of California," said Gov. Jerry Brown. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who represents a San Francisco district that is among the nation's most liberal, added, “We will fight this sham lawsuit and will fight all cowardly attacks on our immigrant communities." State Senate leader Kevin de León, who is running against Dianne Feinstein in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate this year, responded on Twitter:
Link to tweet
Although the political positions are intensely polarized, the actual history of California’s hands-off immigration-enforcement policy posture tells a very different story. It began in 1979 in Los Angeles, by far the largest city in the state, when then-LAPD Chief Daryl Gates, a conservative icon known as a pioneer in police militarization -- he created the first SWAT team in 1965, and employed it against Black Panthers and other radical groups -- issued something called Special Order 40. The order made clear that it was "the policy of the Los Angeles Police Department that undocumented alien status in itself is not a matter for police action. It is, therefore, incumbent upon all employees of this Department to make a personal commitment to equal enforcement of the law and service to the public, regardless of alien status.”
Special Order 40 went on to state, “Since undocumented aliens, because of their status, are often more vulnerable to victimization, crime prevention assistance will be offered to assist them in safeguarding their property and to lessen their potential to be crime victims.” It was, in essence, a recognition that police needed the trust of witnesses and crime victims in order to enforce the law, and that they needed to enforce the law equally on behalf of everyone who lived in L.A.
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https://www.salon.com/2018/03/11/californias-sanctuary-movement-has-surprising-conservative-roots/