The city of Los Angeles will remain a safe place for so-called “Dreamers” and fight for immigrant policy that protects these young people, Mayor Eric Garcetti said at a Tuesday night forum at Wilshire Boulevard Temple.

“We know that these are great Americans,” Garcetti said. “So six months – six months to get our work done. But this city will defend and protect every Dreamer in this city, not share information, [and] provide them with safe spaces in our schools and in our public facilities.”

Earlier this week, the administration of President Donald J. Trump announced that it would begin allowing permits for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to expire in six months. The administration called on Congress to put forward comprehensive immigration reform within that time frame.

Protesters from a coalition of local social justice groups stood outside the Wilshire Boulevard Temple on Tuesday night. Many were upset about the lack of legal protections for undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles. (photo by Jaclyn Cosgrove)

“Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA (something the Obama Administration was unable to do),” President Donald J. Trump tweeted Tuesday, Sept. 5. “If they can’t, I will revisit this issue!”

Garcetti noted in a statement separate from Tuesday’s event that DACA has allowed close to 800,000 young people to start careers, stay in school, and give back to our communities without fear of being forced to leave the country.

On the stage Tuesday night at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s auditorium, Garcetti shared his grandfather’s story of coming to the United States. After the mayor’s great grandfather was killed in the Mexican Revolution, his great grandmother fled the country, bringing her young son Salvador.

“She didn’t think about whether the United States had the right laws or what she could do in Mexico,” Garcetti said. “She grabbed her child and crossed the border with him in her arms.”

Garcetti’s grandfather Salvador, who grew up in Boyle Heights and only knew his life in the United States, would have been called a “Dreamer,” had the proposed legislation existed years ago.

Before Obama introduced DACA, the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act had stalled several times in Congress since it was introduced in 2001.

In the audience, protesters from a coalition of social justice organizations frequently stood largely silent with their backs turned to Garcetti and the members of law enforcement who spoke on a panel after Garcetti’s remarks, which opened the event.

Many of the protesters were there to express frustrations that Los Angeles is not the “sanctuary city” that leaders purport it to be, and that the city must pass ordinances to further protect undocumented immigrants, and end any and all collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Pilar Gonzalez, an attorney who advocates for people with disabilities, was among the protesters, standing when Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell spoke.

“I have seen family members and family friends suffer because of terrible policies both in the LAPD and sheriff’s departments because of the collaboration with ICE and other federal law enforcement,” Gonzalez, 33, said after the event. “When I was 15, my dad got pulled over, I was in the back of the car … my father looks very light skinned, but the moment he showed his ID, and his very thick accent came through, this member of the sheriff’s department’s whole attitude changed.”

Gonzalez’s father was held in jail for a night without committing any crime, she said.

During his speech, Garcetti called on Congress to not only act in protecting families with stories like his own but also help the millions of other immigrants who don’t qualify for DACA.

Garcetti also encouraged residents to stay strong among the uncertainty that comes with potential immigration reform.

“This country has always been the place, and this city in particular, of fertile ground where we don’t ask you for your papers when you come here, we don’t ask you how you worship God, we don’t ask you what language your parents speak or whom you love, we don’t care what your income is, we don’t care the color of your skin,” Garcetti said. “We care whether you buy into the idea that you can make a life here and contribute.”