The dominos are beginning to fall in California, as one city after another is joining the movement to exempt themselves from the state’s sanctuary law.
On Monday, the Huntington Beach City Council voted 6 to 1 to sue the state over SB 54, which protects illegal immigrants by limiting the cooperation between local police and ICE agents. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said, “I am very proud of the USA. I would suggest that those who advocate for sanctuary states are betraying the American people.”
Huntington Beach follows the city of Los Alamitos, whose city council voted 4-1 on March 19 to pass a city ordinance exempting it from SB 54.
That prompted leaders in Aliso Viejo and Buena Park to say the very next day that they planned to push for a version of the Los Alamitos ordinance.
Last week, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to condemn SB 54 and join a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit that contends the law is unconstitutional. California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 54 into law in October 2017; it was implemented on January 1, 2018. The law forbids local and state law enforcement from various actions, which the Sacramento Bee listed as follows:
▪ Inquire about an individual’s immigration status.
▪ Detain someone on a hold request for the federal government, unless there’s a felony warrant or the person has been convicted of one of the more than 800 crimes.
▪ Arrest someone for a civil immigration warrant alone.
▪ Be deputized as immigration agents.
▪ Participate in border patrol activities.
▪ Participate in joint task forces with the federal government if the primary purpose is immigration enforcement.
▪ Notify the federal government of someone’s release or transfer someone to federal custody, unless there’s a federal warrant or the person has been convicted of one of the more than 800 crimes listed in a revised Trust Act.