San Diego County Could Be Next to Join CA Anti-Sanctuary Revolt

San Diego County and the city of Escondido in the coming weeks will also reportedly consider defying California’s “sanctuary state” laws, following Los Alamitos and Orange County.

Last week, Los Alamitos’s city council passed an ordinance to defy SB 54, the state’s main sanctuary law that bars local authorities from honoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers. On Tuesday, Orange County’s Board of Supervisors voted to join the Trump administration’s lawsuit challenging California’s three sanctuary state laws and condemn the state’s “sanctuary city” law.

According to a San Diego Union-Tribune report, 
Escondido Mayor Sam Abed and Councilman John Masson “have put an item on the April 4 agenda that would authorize the city’s filing of a legal brief in support” of the Trump administration’s lawsuit challenging California’s three sanctuary city laws for violating the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. Abed told the outlet that he expects the measure to pass.

Escondido is the first city in San Diego County to consider defying the state’s “sanctuary” laws, and San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors is reportedly scheduled to discuss whether to join the anti-sanctuary revolt on April 17 during a closed session.

Last year, Escondido’s city council passed a resolution against SB 54, reportedly declaring at the time that the law did not “provide protection for local communities because it expressly prohibits local law enforcement, who are most likely to come into contact with violent offenders unlawfully in the United States, from communicating effectively with federal authorities who are the only agencies who have the authority to remove these individuals from the country.”

In Orange County, Mission Viejo voted this week to support Los Alamitos’s ordinance while Buena Park, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach, and Aliso Viejo are also likely to discuss the matter in the coming weeks.

In Huntington Beach, Mayor Mike Posey announced that he and Mayor Pro Tem Erik Peterson will introduce an agenda item on April 1 “directing the City Attorney to seek relief from the SB54 mandates.”

Posey said in a statement that California’s “sanctuary” laws “all represent a threat to public safety” and city lawmakers have been exploring options to ensure the safety of its citizens and “maintain local control, while at the same time, fulfill our oath of upholding the Constitution.”