California sanctuary opposition may keep spreading: Santa Clarita councilman
More California communities may follow Santa Clarita after it became the first city in Los Angeles County to support the Trump administration’s suit challenging a law protecting immigrants, according to a Santa Clarita councilman.
“It’s entirely possible that this movement is going to go up and down the entire state of California,” Councilman Bob Kellar told David Asman during a FOX Business interview on Thursday.
In a 5-0 vote early Wednesday morning, the City Council of Santa Clarita challenged Senate Bill 54, the law Gov. Jerry Brown signed in October 2017. Santa Clarita joined a growing list of California cities opposing the so-called sanctuary law.
The councilman said citizens are responding to anecdotes suggesting an increase in crime related to passage of the bill as well as failure to prosecute felonies to the full extent of the law.
“It is so typical in the law enforcement arena to make an arrest for a felony, and then it gets plea-bargained to a misdemeanor, and then we make the low-grade misdemeanor, and the next thing you know, we really don’t have any law and order anymore,” Kellar said on “After the Bell.”
The City Council began its meeting Tuesday night, where people packed the council chamber to voice opposition to the state’s sanctuary law. Outside the chamber, about 150 demonstrators and counter-demonstrators lined up before the meeting, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“At least a 9- or 10-to-1 ratio of people demanded an end to what has been going on in the state of California and specifically many of the laws affecting the sanctuary status,” Kellar said on FOX Business.