Orange County has voted to join the federal government to oppose California’s sanctuary law. The move comes just two weeks after Los Alamitos, a small city in Orange County, voted to exempt itself from the state’s sanctuary status.
Earlier this month, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a lawsuit against California over the state’s sanctuary policies. The lawsuit targets three California laws, each passed in protest to the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
One California law, SB 54, prohibits state and local authorities from sharing information about immigration status with federal immigration enforcement authorities and prohibits transfers of certain immigrants to federal custody. The second, AB 450, prohibits private employers from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement in the workplace. AB 103, the third law, regulates contract detention facilities used to hold federal immigration prisoners.
On March 6, the Justice Department filed suit against the State of California alleging obstruction of federal immigration enforcement, a move that was applauded by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. “California has chosen to purposefully contradict the will and the responsibility of the Congress to protect our homeland,” Nielsen said in a statement. “I appreciate the efforts of Attorney General Sessions and the Department of Justice to uphold the rule of law and protect American communities.”
And while California Governor Jerry Brown and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra denounced the Trump administration’s lawsuit, California residents are starting to speak out against their state’s pro-illegal immigration policies.
On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to join the federal government in the lawsuit against the state’s laws.
Critics of California’s sanctuary status came out in support of the lawsuit at the meeting donned in American flag attire and holding signs that read, “No, No, No Sanctuary State,” CNN reports.
U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican whose district is based in Orange County, voiced his opposition to California’s sanctuary status. “By making this a sanctuary city, a sanctuary state, we’re doing nothing more than attracting millions of more people to come to this country and consume the very wealth that’s being talked about today that’s necessary for quality of life for the poor group of Americans,” he said.
According to Rohrabacher, the “flow of illegals” has brought down the quality of education, healthcare, and housing in the county. He also observed that millions of undocumented citizens were coming to the state to get benefits.
CNN reports that Orange County will also defy state law by making inmate release dates public through an online database. By making the information public, SB 54 does not apply, and this loophole will allow individuals to fall into ICE custody if applicable.
“This action will enhance communication between the Sheriff’s Department and our law-enforcement partners to remove dangerous offenders from our community,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Tuesday.
According to Carrie Bruan, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department, the agency has released 172 inmates, who are in the country illegally, into the community between January 1 and March 19 because of SB 54.
Earlier this month, the Los Alamitos City Council voted 4-1 to exempt Los Alamitos from Calironia’s sanctuary law after hundreds of people gathered outside the packed meeting and dozens spoke their minds.
“We have the law of the land and that constitution says the federal government is in charge of immigration law, not the state of California,” one woman said.
“We want people deported, simply because they’re here illegally,” another man said.
Mayor Troy Edgar told the Orange County Register that the people of his city were fed up: “As the mayor of Los Alamitos, we are not a sanctuary city.”
Other cities in Orange County are beginning to voice their concerns against the state’s sanctuary laws, including Yorba Linda, Buena Park, Huntington Beach, and Mission Viejo, the LA Times reports.
State Senator Kevin de Leon, who authored SB 54, threatened cities that considered going against the state’s sanctuary laws. “Pushing a racist and anti-immigrant agenda devoid of facts or supporting legal analysis is a pretty sad use of taxpayer resources, especially when it could result in crippling legal costs for cities that rush to join this dead-end effort,” he said in a written statement.
But that threat only achieves so much. Yorba Linda Mayor Gene Hernandez told the Times that while legal costs have deterred the city from doing what Los Alamitos did, the city voted instead to send a supporting amicus brief to the federal lawsuit.
Photo of Laguna Beach in Orange County, California: TraceRouda via iStock / Getty Images Plus
