A Southern California city is suing the state over sanctuary laws that limit cooperation between local authorities and immigration officials.
The lawsuit, which also names California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta, is one of several filed by Huntington Beach against Sacramento in recent years in an effort to manage its affairs without state interference. It focuses on the California Values Act, or SB 54, which limits local and state law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities except in certain cases.
“On the one hand, the sanctuary state law acts as a barrier to any communication or coordination. It forces or directs our local officials to violate certain federal immigration laws, and then it stands in the way of voluntary cooperation with federal agencies,” Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates told Fox News Digital. “On three levels, it’s completely improper.”
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Like other opponents of the law, Huntington Beach maintains it should have full control of its police department.
“To put a fine point, as a Charter City, Huntington Beach’s Police Department does not belong to the State,” the filing states. “Rather, the Huntington Beach Police Department belongs to the City – and as such, the Police Department should be free from State interference and control.”
“The City and its Police Department should be, therefore, entirely at liberty to employ every lawful means to combat crime and promote public safety for the City’s 200,000 residents,” the complaint said.
Huntington Beach argues that the state is breaking the law by telling local municipalities not to work with federal authorities and that the sanctuary state law is unconstitutional.
“We are fighting the Sanctuary State Law because it obstructs our ability to fully enforce the law and keep our community safe,” Mayor Pat Burns said in a statement. “When the stakes are currently so high, with reports of increases in human trafficking, increases in foreign gangs taking over apartment buildings in the U.S., killing, raping, and committing other violent crimes against our citizens, we need every possible resource available to fight crime, including federal resources.”
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“Huntington Beach will not sit idly by and allow the obstructionist Sanctuary State Law to put our residents at risk of harm from those who seek to commit violent crimes on U.S. soil,” he added.
Gates said SB 54 forces cities to violate federal law and harbor illegal criminal immigrants.
“The stakes are a lot higher with some of the crimes committed by illegal immigrants,” he said. “It’s very obstructive, this sanctuary state law, and it prevents good, sound law enforcement practices.”
He cited the recent death of a woman in New York City who was allegedly set ablaze by an illegal immigrant on the subway, members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang that briefly terrorized an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, and an illegal migrant allegedly caught with a flamethrower near where wildfires raged in Los Angeles County.
Supporters of the law say it provides protection for illegal immigrants who report crimes that would otherwise go unreported, such as victims of human trafficking or domestic violence, doesn’t impede criminal investigations, and that local prosecutors, not the state, can use their authority and existing laws to hold criminals accountable.
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In response to the lawsuit, Bonta’s office told Fox News Digital that he plans to defend SB 54, noting that March 6 is the deadline for his response to the complaint.
“The Attorney General is committed to protecting and ensuring the rights of California’s immigrant communities and upholding vital laws like SB 54, which ensure that state and local resources go toward fighting crime in California communities, not toward federal immigration enforcement,” his office said. “Our office successfully fought back against a challenge to SB 54 by the first Trump administration, and we are prepared to vigorously defend SB 54 again.”
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Bonta noted that SB 54 doesn’t prevent the federal government from conducting immigration enforcement, but says “that they cannot make us do their jobs for them.”
Last week, Burns, the mayor, and the rest of the City Council unanimously voted to declare Huntington Beach a “non-sanctuary” city. The move directs the city’s police officers to cooperate with immigration authorities.
In addition to the most recent lawsuit, Huntington Beach is currently fighting Sacramento on several fronts. Earlier this month, Bonta announced that he is appealing a ruling that bounced a case out of court after voters in the city approved a ballot measure to require identification be shown for those voting in person within city limits.
In October, the city lost an appeal after losing a lawsuit to circumvent state housing mandates.
“The state wants to consolidate all power in Sacramento and that’s why we’ve been in court fighting back and pushing back,” Gates said.
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