What LA's Sanctuary City Policy Could Look Like Under Trump Administration

Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, January 3, 2025…

• When the Trump administration takes office later this month, it’ll be on a collision course with California cities that have vowed to protect their undocumented residents from Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportation. But when the city says it will protect immigrants, what does that practically mean? 
• Two people were killed and 19 injured when a small aircraft crashed into a furniture manufacturing building in the Orange County city of Fullerton on Thursday afternoon.
• California’s snowpack near Lake Tahoe is higher than it was this time last year, but still just below average for early January.

CA Cities Could Face Battle Over Sanctuary City Policies

Last month, the Los Angeles City Council formally adopted a sanctuary city ordinance, prohibiting city resources or personnel from being used to assist federal immigration authorities in President-elect Donald Trump’s planned mass deportation efforts.

The council initially approved the ordinance on Nov. 19, but made some minor language changes, requiring a second vote. The ordinance included an urgency clause, which means it could go into effect within 10 days of being signed by Mayor Karen Bass, which she is expected to do.

City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez has been an ardent supporter of protecting the undocumented community. She explains why this designation is important. “What I hope that this does for them is that it gives them a little bit of relief and understanding that the city is doing what it can to protect them and not sharing any information with the federal government for ICE enforcement and not spending its resources on that,” she said. “That the city stands with them. And I would hope that they would feel a little bit of relief knowing that the city is doing what it can at this moment to protect them.”

There are concerns the incoming Trump administration could retaliate against California cities that are looking to protect undocumented residents.

2 Dead And 19 Injured In Southern California Plane Crash

Two people died and 19 were injured Thursday when a small plane crashed through the roof of a sprawling furniture manufacturing building in Southern California where at least 200 people were working, police said.

The people who died were believed to have been on the plane, while those injured were inside the building. The deceased victims will be identified after officials have contacted the next of kin, the Fullerton Police Department said in a statement.

Eleven people were taken to hospitals, while eight were treated and released at the scene, police said. The injuries ranged from minor to very serious, said Michael Meacham, Fullerton deputy chief of fire operations.

Northern California Snowpack Off To A Much Stronger Start Than Last Year

The snowpack near Lake Tahoe is far larger than it was at the start of 2024 but still short of the average for this time of year, California water officials said Thursday in the first manual snow survey of the season.

The survey, conducted at Phillips Station in the northern Sierra Nevada, recorded snow more than three times deeper than what the California Department of Water Resources recorded at the same station this time last year. That figure also represents 91% of the average for previous surveys done at this point in the year.

Statewide, California’s snowpack is just above the average for this time of year and at 39% of the average for April 1, which is when officials expect to see peak levels for the year before spring snowmelt and runoff begins.