“La Puente, a city of 40,000 in the San Gabriel Valley whose population is 85 percent Latino, has declared itself a “sanctuary” for undocumented immigrants, in a resolution passed by the City Council on Jan. 10.
City officials say the public turned out in droves to attend the vote, a tense and anxious crowd filling the 50 seats in council chambers, with nearly as many people standing outside. When the vote was taken and the resolution passed 4-0, the audience in the chamber erupted in cheers and a prolonged chant in Spanish of Si se pudo, or “yes we did,” until Mayor Valery Muñoz called the meeting back to order.”