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DISCUSSION OF A POTENTIAL ORDINANCE DESIGNATING STOCKTON AS A COMPASSIONATE CITY
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RECOMMENDATION
Receive information related to the Compassionate City designation, and provide staff direction on any additional information the Council Legislation/Environmental Committee would like to receive and/or a recommendation for the City Council if appropriate.
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Summary
At the August 25, 2025 meeting of the Council Legislative/Environmental Committee, staff received direction to agendize a discussion before this Committee to consider a potential ordinance designating Stockton as a Compassionate City.
DISCUSSION
Background
On October 5, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed California Senate Bill 54 (“SB 54”) (Attachment A) into law. Known as the California Values Act, SB 54 was designed to shield undocumented immigrants from the harsh tactics often used by federal immigration agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. The bill states that local authorities will not ask about immigration status during routine interactions. Additional provisions forbid state and local offices from holding illegal immigrants until they can be transferred into federal custody, and prohibit federal agencies from commandeering local authorities to work with immigration agencies and conduct the work of immigration agents.
Within his signing message, Governor Brown asserted that SB 54 would enshrine new protections, while striking a balance to protect public safety and bring a measure of comfort to those families living in fear every day. The bill underscores California’s commitment to being a sanctuary state, promoting inclusivity and protection for all individuals, regardless of their immigration status.
Following the passage of SB 54, many cities and counties took action by passing their own resolutions, explicitly supporting and building upon the established protections of the California Values Act. Among the California cities which reaffirmed their commitment to the law are:
- Sacramento
- Los Angeles
- Union City
Present Situation
A sanctuary city is defined as a city that limits or denies cooperation with the national government in enforcing immigration laws, often by refusing to use local resources for immigration enforcement and not asking about the immigration status of people they encounter. Proponents of sanctuary cities cite motives such as reducing the fear of individuals who illegally immigrated from deportation, separation of immigrant families, reporting crimes, using health and social services, and enrolling their children into a school. Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Francisco are examples of sanctuary cities.
A compassionate city immigration policy is a local government’s commitment to treat all residents equally, provide access to city services regardless of immigration status, and refrain from assisting federal immigration enforcement. Such cities do not independently enforce federal civil immigration laws, do not ask about immigration status for services, and do not hold individuals for civil immigration reasons without a judicial warrant or probable cause. Such policies aim to foster trust and engagement with the city, encourage crime reporting and protect the community from the fear of discrimination. Union City and Hayward are examples of compassionate cities.
City of Sacramento
Since 1985, Sacramento has been a self-designated sanctuary city. Sacramento police officers are prohibited from asking for immigration status or assisting in immigration enforcement. Sacramento Police Department is dedicated to addressing crime, supporting victims, and building trust, regardless of immigration status.
In addition, the City’s sanctuary city ordinance (Attachment B), adopted in May 2017, makes it clear that no City official, employee or agent of the city, while in the course and scope of employment, shall use any City funds or resources to enforce federal civil immigration law.
City of Los Angeles
Los Angeles formally became a sanctuary city in November 2024, when its City Council unanimously voted to pass an ordinance establishing Los Angeles as a Sanctuary City. While the City Council had previously passed a resolution declaring Los Angeles a “City of Sanctuary” in 2017, no sanctuary policies were codified into municipal law.
Ordinance No. 188441, adopted in 2024 (Attachment C), permanently enshrines sanctuary policies into municipal law and prohibits the use of city resources, including personnel and property, from being used to enforce federal immigration laws or cooperate with federal immigration authorities for immigration enforcement purposes. Critically, the ordinance also prohibits the direct and indirect sharing of data with federal immigration authorities – an important gap to close in the City’s protections for immigrants.
While the ordinance protects city resources from being used for immigration enforcement, it does not prevent federal authorities from carrying out their own immigration enforcement activities within the city.
City of Union City
In 2017, Mayor Carol Dutra-Vernaci affirmed that, “although Union City has always embraced principles that encompass safety, tolerance and compassion for all of its diverse community, it was time to put these values in writing to give people a greater sense of security.” The City’s Human Relations Commission (HRC) spent time reviewing current city policies and researching local information, and also led discussions with people from all walks of life and service providers. At the conclusion of their outreach, the HRC made a recommendation to City Council that becoming a Compassionate City was in the best interest of residents and would demonstrate that Union City is committed to being free of prejudice and discrimination.
In May 2017, the City Council designated Union City as a Compassionate City (Attachment D). The Union City community shares a commitment to its identified core values of safety, tolerance and caring. The Compassionate City resolution builds on existing policies to clearly articulate Union City’s position related to federal immigration policy, which affirms:
- The policy and practice of treating everyone equally, without regard to race, color, national origin, or immigration status, is unchanged, and will remain as strong as it has always been.
- The City has no legal authority to partner with federal authorities to enforce federal civil immigration law.
- The City continues to encourage residents to freely engage with city staff, freely access city services, and be free of fear in reporting crime, regardless of immigration status.
Union City’s Compassionate City Status is an initiative designed to strengthen the goals of inclusiveness and compassion. A fact sheet describing Union City’s designation is featured as a best practice on the website of the United States Conference of Mayors (Attachment E) (https://www.usmayors.org/programs/mayors-and-business-leaders-center-for-compassionate-and-equitable-cities/best-practices/)
Next Steps
Staff seeks input and/or direction from the Legislation/Environmental Committee on next steps.
Attachment A – Senate Bill 54 – California Values Act
Attachment B – Resolution No. 2017-0158 City of Sacramento, CA
Attachment C – Ordinance No. 188441 City of Los Angeles
Attachment D – Resolution No. 5069-17 City of Union City, CA
Attachment E – Union City’s Compassionate City Status