The Whittier City Council on July 8 directed city staff to analyze proposed local measures in response to recent immigration-enforcement incidents in and around Whittier and to return with legal and public-safety recommendations at the council meeting on Aug. 12.

The public comment period, which included dozens of speakers, focused largely on alleged immigration-enforcement actions described by residents as unannounced, masked operations. Claudia Pangelos Marin, a 36-year resident, told the council: “I’m here tonight with a deep concern for the silence of this council during a time of fear, division, and government sanctioned trauma in our immigrant communities.” Speakers asked the council to declare Whittier a sanctuary city, create a rapid-response network, provide legal and financial support to affected families and require federal agents to identify themselves while operating in the city.

Former state Sen. Martha Escutia and Ivan Sulik, representing Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office, urged the council to act. Sulik said Supervisor Hahn “supports” Councilmember Mary Anne Pacheco’s effort to introduce an ordinance requiring unmasked and identifiable appearances by federal agents.

Councilmembers said they had heard large numbers of residents and asked staff to compile options. City Manager Joe Connell summarized staff’s assignment: “That staff would be looking at the impacts of issues that public speakers have addressed and see how that relates to the city,” and return with analysis, including legal review from the city attorney and a public-safety assessment, for council consideration on Aug. 12.

The council voted 5-0 to place the study and staff analysis on the next feasible agenda. The vote was unanimous: Councilmember Warner – aye; Councilmember Pacheco – aye; Councilmember Dutra – aye; Mayor Pro Tem Martinez – aye; Mayor Vinatieri – aye.

The council did not adopt an ordinance at the July 8 meeting. Instead, members directed staff to evaluate the feasibility, legal constraints and operational impacts of measures requested by speakers, including Pacheco’s draft ordinance that would require federal agents to identify themselves and refrain from wearing masks while conducting enforcement in Whittier.

Next steps include staff’s legal analysis, a public-safety review by the police department, and a staff report to be returned to the City Council on Aug. 12. The council did not set a final adoption date for any ordinance; the Aug. 12 item will present findings and possible options for formal council action.