Dozens of residents urge Oxnard Council to adopt sanctuary-city protections; council asks staff to prepare information

Dozens of residents and local organizations told the Oxnard City Council on Tuesday night that communities in the city are living "in fear" and urged elected officials to upgrade the city's 2017 safe-city resolution to formal sanctuary-city protections.

Speakers at a packed public-comment period described recent immigration enforcement activity in Oxnard and said families, farmworkers and schoolchildren are avoiding work, medical care and school because they fear deportation. Council members said they would pursue preparatory steps but did not take a formal vote to change policy.

The demand came from a cross-section of activists, nonprofit leaders and students who called on the council to adopt concrete, enforceable protections. "Everyday families in our city live in fear of being separated from their loved ones," said…