Los Angeles sets up $10m fund to fight Donald Trump's deportation proposals

A $10m (£8.08m) fund to protect people from Donald Trump's deportation plans has been set up by officials in Los Angeles.

City bosses and community leaders announced their involvement in the project this week, with LA Mayor Eric Garcetti's office telling Fox 5 that $5m would be drawn from public funds while the other $5m would come from the coffers of private foundations.

LA is not the first city to announce its plans to help undocumented immigrants escape deportation in the wake of Trump's election victory, with lawmakers in Chicago and New York already announcing similar plans.

The president-elect's tough rhetoric on immigration during his election campaign, and immediately following his victory, led to fears that undocumented immigrants would be forced to leave the country en masse.

Trump pledged during his campaign to end sanctuary cities, immediately terminate President Barack Obama's executive amnesties, and move undocumented criminals out of the country.

Since his election, Trump has further stated he intends to deport up to three million undocumented immigrants on taking office.

However, the president-elect is likely to face resistance to his immigration plans, not only from cities that are determined to offer protection to undocumented immigrants – particularly in Democrat strongholds – but also from within his own party.

GOP senator Lindsey Graham is working alongside Senate Democratic whip Dick Durbin on a bill to protect children at risk of being deported if Obama's executive amnesty is scrapped by Trump.

"You can't blame these kids for coming here, you can't blame these kids for coming out of the shadows," Graham said. "They're out of the shadows and now we know who they are. If we cancel the executive order, what happens to them? We deport them all?"