Residents passed an ordinance that exempts the city from California's sanctuary city policies, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Los Alamitos approved the ordinance that exempts the municipality of 12,000 from Senate Bill 54, a law that took effect Jan. 1 that restricts local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities, the LA Times reported.
The sanctuary city movement has wide support among elected officials in the left-leaning state, the newspaper said.
During a city council meeting on Monday, elected officials approved the ordinance 4 to 1. Some in the chamber shouted "Patriots!" and "This is a win for America!" while others waved pro-President Donald Trump flags, the LA Times reported.
Mark A. Chirco, a councilman who passed the only no vote, said the ordinance could mean the city is exposed to litigation.
"We disagree with Sacramento on a lot of things. Are we not going to follow state law every time we disagree with them? I don't think that would be prudent," Chirco told the LA Times.
One person who attended the meeting immigrated from Israel legally and said everyone else should, too.
"The law is the law and has to be enforced all over the country. The country is a law-and-order country and you have to come here legally," said Moti Cohen, a Garden Grove resident whose wife grew up in Los Alamitos.
Some immigration enforcement supporters hope that Los Alamitos is the beginning of a trend.
"Perhaps it could be the leader. We are heartened that body politics is taking an action that supports federal laws," Robin Hvidston, executive director of We The People Rising, a lobbying organization for stricter immigration enforcement, told the newspaper.
Tara Farajian, a resident of neighboring Rossmoor, was displeased with the ruling. "It's almost like they want to create a police city," she told the LA Times.
However, Rabbi Jonathan Klein was disappointed in the ordinance, according to The Orange County Register.
"There's been a real shift to a national, xenophobic acceptability in our society that is heartbreaking," Klein said in The Register.
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