The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday unanimously passed a "sanctuary city" ordinance to protect immigrants living in the city, a policy that would prohibit the use of city resources and personnel to carry out federal immigration enforcement.

The move by the Southern California city, the second most populated city in the US after New York City, follows President-elect Donald Trump's vow to carry out mass deportations of immigrants.

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The ordinance codifies the protection of migrants in municipal law. Council member Hugo Soto-Martinez said, "by passing this law today, we are making sure that we are keeping our friends, family, neighbors and coworkers safe."

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The city is home to 1.3 million migrants, council members said, without specifying how many entered the country legally.

Eleven states have, to varying degrees, taken steps towards reducing cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, according to the non-profit Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Trump, winner of the Nov. 5 election, takes office on Jan. 20.

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The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

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(Production: Liliana Salgado)