Cathedral City officials to vote on ‘sanctuary city’ title

Cathedral City Council Members will vote for ‘sanctuary city’ title in upcoming May 24 City Council meeting.

“We had about 24 people speak, residents of the city and all of them actually spoke in favor of the city becoming a sanctuary city,” Cathedral City Council Member Shelley Kaplan said.

In the last City Council study session, people shared stories on why they want the city to take a stand and protect undocumented immigrants.

“It will make it much better for them because right now they come out when they’re all scared not knowing if they are going to come back home,” Cathedral City resident Angelica Orozca said.

Council Members are preparing for a vote and could join cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles — in adopting the title.

“We really felt it was important for us to make a statement from the city’s perspective that we are here in terms of all the city staff and City Council to try to create a safe and supportive environment for the residents of the city,” Kaplan said.

Sanctuary status doesn’t necessarily protect undocumented immigrants. In one case, a man was pulled off a Sun Bus 3 years ago in Cathedral City and later deported. In the surveillance video, the man was detained. According to his son, the man was on his way home from work and had been in the country for 25 years.

It happened under President Obama not President Trump.
Sanctuary or not — federal agents would still be able to do the same thing.

“In a certain way, but, sometimes immigration they just come and get the people if it’s a sanctuary or not,” Cathedral City resident Rodolfo Aguilar said.

While the resolution wouldn’t trump federal law, city officials said it may make residents feel safer knowing that local police won’t be asking about their immigration status.