Carlsbad Joins Revolt Against California’s ‘Sanctuary State’ Laws

The coastal city of Carlsbad joined over a dozen other local governments Monday in formally opposing California’s “sanctuary state” laws, and supporting the federal government’s lawsuit to overturn them.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Carlsbad’s City Council waded into the national “sanctuary state” issue Monday evening, voting 4-1 to back the federal government’s lawsuit against California.

They also agreed the city should file a legal brief “when appropriate” in support of the federal action against the state’s Senate Bill 54, which prohibits local law enforcement officials from investigating arrestees’ immigration status or reporting that status to federal authorities.

…

A handful of other local jurisdictions have taken a position on the state law, which limits what state and local law enforcement officials from investigating arrestees’ immigration status or reporting it to federal authorities. Federal officials have said the law pre-empts their authority.

So far three [San Diego County] cities — National City, Chula Vista and San Diego — have stepped up to support the state law, while two jurisdictions — Escondido and San Diego County — have voted to oppose it.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed its lawsuit in early March. The lawsuit seeks to overturn the Immigrant Worker Protection Act (HB 450), the Inspection and Review of Facilities Housing Federal Detainees law (AB 103); and the California Values Act (SB 54). The Trump administration argues that these laws violate the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

In the weeks that followed, local activists, inspired by the Trump administration’s intervention, urged cities and counties to defy the sanctuary state laws and support the federal lawsuit.

 

The first to do so was the small city of Los Alamitos, in Orange County. More than a dozen other jurisdictions have followed suit, including Orange County, San Diego County, and Tuolumne County.

Experts suggest that the state will struggle to defend at least two out of the three laws, with only SB 54 having a chance of surviving judicial muster.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named to Forward’s 50 “most influential” Jews in 2017. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.