Another California city welcomes ICE in fight against state sanctuary law
Los Alamitos, a small city in Orange County that’s at the forefront of California’s sanctuary city debate, plans to host federal immigration officials in order to support their activities through the rest of the county, according to Mayor Troy Edgar.
Edgar met with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials over the course of the last week, promising them access to California cities in Orange County that identify as sanctuary cities, like Santa Ana and Anaheim.
“For me, it’s a principled issue,” he told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Wednesday. “As a U.S. Navy veteran and city council member, I took an oath of office, and my oath of office was to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
California’s sanctuary laws reduce police cooperation with federal immigration authorities, a move intended to resist the Trump administration’s renewed efforts to deport undocumented people living in the country and to stop Trump’s plan to a build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The Department of Justice has since filed a lawsuit against the Golden State.
“I just can’t understand why Gov. [Jerry] Brown and Sacramento want to get in the middle of that,” Edgar said. “It’s also about law enforcement, and making clear to our folks in our city that we support the U.S. constitution and with federal immigration officials making sure to keep our community safe and our country safe.”
Other Southern California communities have begun to join Los Alamitos, with Hesperia, Orange County, Mission Viejo, Huntington Beach, Escondido, Fountain Valley, Aliso Viejo, Newport Beach, Westminster, San Juan Capistrano and San Diego County choosing to not comply with the state law. Edgar speculated that Fresno County could be the next to join the increasingly long list.
“I’ve sent letters to over 500 mayors and city council members up and down the state,” he said. “I’ve been spending hours every day talking to council members and mayors, activists in their communities. I think you’d be really surprised at all the cities getting ready to come forward.”