Bradley Ends Silence With Endorsement of Sanctuary Policy

Mayor Tom Bradley, breaking his public silence on the Los Angeles City Council’s sanctuary resolution, on Tuesday endorsed the policy that symbolically declares the city a haven for political refugees.

In an address to the National League of Cities, Bradley spoke out in favor of the sanctuary resolution, which also bars city employees from considering a person’s immigration status when providing public services. He also urged his fellow mayors and city officials to join Los Angeles and other cities in adopting a similar refugee policy.

Referring to the thousands of people who have fled Central America to settle--most of them illegally--in Los Angeles and other cities, Bradley blamed the Reagan Administration’s immigration policy for making it difficult “to ensure peace and justice” for these refugees.

Under the Reagan policy, most of these immigrants are treated as economic, and not political, refugees. “Many of these refugees are living in a way that they are in violation of federal law,” Bradley said. “In too many cases, they are also living lives of poverty, fear and desperation.”

Adopted Last Month

Under the resolution--which the council adopted last month on an 8-6 vote--city employees are told not to voluntarily provide federal authorities with information regarding the immigration status of any undocumented alien who has not broken the law.

In embracing the resolution, Bradley later told reporters that he also believes the symbolic--but highly controversial--act of declaring Los Angeles “a city of sanctuary” is appropriate.

“It’s not a legally binding proclamation,” he said. “But it’s a moral statement, and it’s important.”

The mayor had been under increasing pressure to speak out on the issue, but he had remained noncommittal until Tuesday. Bradley told The Times that he did not comment earlier because he had not yet read the resolution.

“I have just been overwhelmed with other matters that were greater priorities for me. I was not required to sign it. I didn’t have to approve or disapprove it. It just had a lower priority,” he said.

One of Bradley’s most persistent critics has been Gov. George Deukmejian, who condemned the council vote and then needled Bradley for not taking a public stand.

Asked about the governor’s objections to the resolution, Bradley, a Democrat who is expected to challenge the Republican governor next year, reacted sharply.

“Shame, shame, shame on that man,” Bradley said with his voice rising. And he said that Deukmejian’s Armenian ancestors had come from Turkey to escape political persecution and genocide 70 years ago.

“Of all the people, he should be more compassionate and more sensitive to this issue of providing political protection from those who are fleeing the very thing his forebears were fleeing from.”

Original Intent

Although the original intent of the resolution was to protect refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala, Councilman Michael Woo, who sponsored the resolution and is one of 10 council members attending the league convention here, said it actually applies to any refugee who can meet the federal definition of political refugees--those who are faced with “the well-founded fear of persecution” if returned to their native country.

Bradley said he favors pending federal legislation that would suspend deportations to such war-torn countries as El Salvador for two years.