Opinion: Patt Morrison Asks: Linda Lopez on heading L.A.’s Office of Immigrant Affairs in the Trump era

In Sacramento, they’re crafting bills to protect otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants from any Trump administration mass deportation plans. Janet Napolitano, the president of the UC system, has pledged to defend any students here illegally — and will make sure that campus cops know it. Cities like Chicago, New York and San Francisco have done the same, some of them for years. In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti’s three-year-old Office of Immigrant Affairs is finding its services even more in demand, and the woman who runs it, Linda Lopez, is figuring out what the new administration will mean to her work.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS INTERVIEW ON THE ‘PATT MORRISON ASKS’ PODCAST »

What kind of programs are we talking about that your office offers?

We have several programs that help support the integration of immigrants here in the city. One includes citizenship. We’ve promoted citizenship for a very long time to help people naturalize. We see value in that because we know that when people go through that process, their earnings are higher and they’re able to also access other kinds of opportunities within the economic system.

What has been going on in your office that’s different since the election on Nov. 8?

One of the things we realized very quickly is that a lot of immigrants are very fearful right now. There’s a lot of anxiety in the community about what ‘s going to happen to them under a Trump administration. And so part of my job has been to quickly bring together organizations to assess what their concerns are.

We for example met with students a couple of weeks ago at Roosevelt High. Some of these students are DACA students, or their parents are undocumented —

“DACA” meaning what?

They’re actually people who qualify for President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. These are young people who are able to access work permits and are able to access the higher education system and they’re also part of our school system. When the mayor met with them, it was very clear that they’re very fearful also for their families and their parents. They worry about mass deportations. L.A. is the epicenter for a lot of our undocumented population. In the county, one of every 10 people is undocumented, so that’s essentially 1 million people in the count. And in the city, we have approximately 500,000 people who are undocumented.

So these policies that Trump has advocated for will impact the city in very profound ways. One of the telling narratives one of the young people shared recently with us is the fact that they don’t know what to do, and so they’re preparing for the worst.

I think there is a general sense that a lot of these kids are very fearful that their parents may leave any day and that the fed government will come in to their homes and basically pick them up and round them up. That’s a very, very real feeling in the community and with these students that have shared these stories of what’s going to happen to me, what’s going to happen to my parents, and what’s going to happen to my family?

One of the things we’re really focused on right now is pulling together all of our legal nonprofits to be able to tell families and individuals who need to have legal assistance to go to these trusted organizations so they can get that information.

We coordinate a lot of those services not only with immigrant rights groups but with legal services providers. We’ve had really great success with our foundation partners in philanthropy in supporting the integration of immigrants here in the city. It’s a broader coalition with our faith communities. They’ve really stepped up. They want to know how they can help. We have a lot of people who have really good, compassionate hearts, who want to do something really positive for these communities.

They also need reassurances, first and foremost reassuring the community not to be fearful, not to create panic, not to create hysteria.

We are a welcoming city, we are city that is diverse. We have always welcomed immigration to this city. They are an asset, they are contributors.

With our law enforcement in particular, Mayor Garcetti has also made it a point to say we’re going to protect you. We have set up the website stepforward.lacity.org, and that is the place where you can obtain all sorts of information.

Have you seen since the election an increase in the number of people who want to get their green cards and in people who have their green cards and want to become citizens?

We are encouraging people to apply for citizenship immediately if they haven’t done so, if they’re eligible and are lawful permanent residents. We want them to apply now because we know that even though there might be a change in an administration, that particular policy of becoming a citizen will continue. And we’re seeing that people see that basic ally as a way to protect their rights.

Mayor Garcetti still hasn’t called L.A. a sanctuary city. Does that make a difference for you for your job?

No, it really doesn’t at this point. I think we get caught up a lot on the definition of what a sanctuary city is. In fact, there really isn’t any really any real legal definition to the term. I think it’s been used in some ways by certain groups to say, Oh, cities like L.A. or New York and other cities are harboring criminals and we’re not necessarily complying with fed law enforcement. It’s not really about what we call ourselves. It’s really about what we’re doing

Special Order 40 was instituted under LAPD Police Chief Daryl Gates in 1979, essentially saying, you’re not going to stop people and ask them about their immigration status. Recently Chief Charlie Beck has also stopped giving to the federal government any information regarding the immigration status of people who are in custody in Los Angeles. Do I have that right?

Yes that’s true.

So in effect you’re saying the LAPD, like the city, is saying to the federal government, That’s not going to wash here. How does that work in practice? What happens if ICE shows up and says, here’s our order?

There is a firm commitment both by our mayor and by Chief Beck to continue to hold on to those policies. We want to make sure that people report crimes. We want to make sure immigrants who sometimes fear the law actually say, when they’re a witness of a crime, that they will report that and share that information with local law enforcement departments.

This policy is really an extension of making sure our community-based policing model works and that we have safer communities. I think Special Order 40 is something that distinguishes us as a city from other cities.

We still comply with federal law enforcement. So for example, on the issue of ICE detainers, from a Constitutional standpoint, it was found it was unconstitutional to hold people even though, for example, their status may be legal or not legal.

We know that now in terms of cooperation with ICE, we need to make sure that there is either a judicial order or a warrant for somebody’s arrest in order for us to cooperate. And so it’s really a Constitutional decision that impacted all of these different cities and localities when it came to ICE detainers.

Mayor Garcetti had a conversation with Donald Trump. Do you know what happened in that conversation vis a vis immigration in Los Angeles?

I think that the conversation was primarily about infrastructure and the Olympics. I don’t have any specific details on the immigration issue. One of the things that the mayor has continually advocated for throughout his administration is that we need to be sure that we integrate our immigrants here locally because they are an asset.

Did he say that to Donald Trump?

No, he didn’t, but I think part of our conversation around immigration generally has been that the city of Los Angeles is that welcoming place. I suspect that because we’re going to be severely impacted that it was an issue that the mayor did want to talk about with the newly elected president.

The city gets about a half-billion dollars in fed funding just this year, for homelessness, port security, a lot of issues. Are there concerns about how the new administration is going to affect that funding?

That’s a very important first step when we’re looking at the anticipated idea that we would lose all this money if we were in some way noncompliant with federal law enforcement. We still have to wait and see.

Have you heard whether people have changed their behavior since the election?

Yes, I think we see that a lot in the workplace. I think there are a lot of people are fearful that there will be raids: should I go to my workplace? Should I tell my employer about my status? I think we’re also seeing issues in the school system where parents have told their kids: make sure you pack your bag, because we don’t know if we’re going to be here. People who could potentially be impacted are really starting to change their behavior, and maybe don’t want to go outside any more [and] fear that they may get stopped by law enforcement. Even in a place like L.A., we’re hearing different stories and different people telling us, this is how I’m feeling.

Is the LAPD working with you on that — workshops, community meetings?

We are going to roll out with the LAPD some community town halls that the LAPD will spearhead, and the idea is community engagement forums so [people] also know the LAPD can answer any of their questions so they know that they shouldn’t be fearful of the LAPD.

You recently went to Mexico with the mayor. What were you hearing there about the sort of things your office is dealing with?

The trip focused mostly on climate but of course because LA is the second largest city with the most Mexican population in the world, these conversations obviously came up and were central in some of the meetings we had — particularly with the foreign minister of Mexico. Where they’re very concerned, too, is in terms of what do we do with our bilateral relations around immigration, and how can they be helpful in terms of making sure they calm fears of families and relatives in their own home country.

The mayor, of course, did reiterate to the foreign minister that we’re here to help support immigrants here in the city, and let’s find ways we can build more relationships.

Your office doesn’t make a distinction between people who are here legally and not here illegally, but the U.S. government does; obviously the Trump campaign did. How do you make the case to people — including people of goodwill — who voted, in many case, because they said it’s not fair to jump the line?

The reason why we don’t distinguish between people is that’s really what America is about. It’s really about a welcoming place, it’s really about the American dream, it’s really about success. One of the beauties of the city of L.A. is that with all these differences and variations in people who come here, we all get along.

Why would we distinguish between documented and undocumented. They’re our neighbors. They’re the people who take care of our kids. They’re the people who take care of our mom and our dad. These are hardworking people. And they come here also just like anyone else — to make that dream a reality. We should be focused on that and not whether or not they’ve jumped the line or not.

Mayor Garcetti tells the story of his grandfather being brought here as a child. Do you have a family story like that?

I do, I do. I was born in Los Angeles. My parents immigrated here in the 1960s from Ecuador.

I know that people who are listening or reading are saying, did they come here with visas?

They did, actually. They came here with visas. My mom came here by herself with my sister when my sister was seven years old. My mom came here at the age of 27, not knowing anybody. And made a life for herself — met my father here and had my brother and I as well. I think it’s the quintessential American story of two people who came from a place outside of the U.S. who meet here, have kids and then created opportunities for their children and created opportunities for themselves. And they’re the ones who have lived it. And now we get to live it as their children.

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