LOS ANGELES, April 20(Xinhua)-- Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti openly clashed with the Trump administration Thursday, vowing that local police would not help the federal government to detain undocumented immigrations for deportation.
In his State of the City address in English and Spanish at City Hall, Garcetti directly addressed ongoing relationship between the second largest city of the country and the Trump administration over the contentious issue of illegal immigration.
"The LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) will never act as a federal immigration force," Garcetti said, promising that other city agencies would follow suit, which raised warm applause at the hall.
"We want people in this city to earn legal wages, pay taxes and start businesses," Garcetti said, despite that President Donald Trump threatens to cut federal funding of cities that act as sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants.
The mayor said he was heartened in January to see Los Angeles residents rush to airports to offer services to travelers blocked by Trump's executive order from entering the United States.
It was not the first time that Californian politicians displayed a stern attitude against Trump's immigration policy.
"In California, immigrants are an integral part of who we are and what we've become," Governor Jerry Brown addressed early this year, "They have helped create the wealth and dynamism of this state from the very beginning."
Meanwhile, in Arizona, the Phoenix City Council Wednesday voted against conscripting local police officers as part of a federal immigration deportation force.
