BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — City staff has stopped developing a policy that aimed to make Bakersfield a “sanctuary city” following a request from the City Council.
This comes after a large number of residents attended the Bakersfield City Council meeting on Aug. 5 to protest the proposed idea of becoming a sanctuary city.
A sanctuary city limits its employees’ cooperation with federal immigration officials to protect immigrants.
At the end of the meeting, Ward 7 Councilman Zack Bashirtash made a referral to have city staff immediately cease to work on anything related to the sanctuary city policy, as well as the TRUTH Act forum.
The policy is not expected to return to any City Council or committee meeting at this time, according to city spokesperson Joe Conroy.
The referral went into effect without a need for a vote from the City Council as no other Council member objected, Conroy told 17 News.
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During the July 15 meeting, Vice Mayor Manpreet Kaur and Councilman Andrae Gonzales asked staff to work on a draft of the sanctuary city policy and a TRUTH Act forum.
The city’s Laws and Legislation Committee was expected to discuss the sanctuary city item during a special meeting this month. The special meeting scheduled for Friday contains no item related to the sanctuary city matter.
Staff was also expected to explore holding a TRUTH Act forum, a community meeting to provide transparency on whether a government has worked with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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