California’s law officially making it a sanctuary state went into effect Monday, but acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas Homan said that’s not going to deter his agency from protecting residents in The Golden State. Moreover, he argued Brown should be criminally charged over the law.
In an interview with Fox News’s Neil Cavuto, Homan called the law “terrible” and said the state wants to “put politics ahead of public safety” and “officer safety.” Instead of arresting dangerous criminals in the safety of a county jail, officers will now have to go to their “turf” he explained.
Homan also said politicians are dead wrong if they think the new law will deter federal immigration officers.
“If you think ICE is going away, we’re not,” he said. “There’s no sanctuary from federal law enforcement.”
In response, the acting director told Cavuto he is increasing their enforcement presence in the state.
“California better hold on tight,” he said. “They’re about to see a lot more special agents, a lot more deportation officers in the state…if the politicians in California don’t want to protect their communities then ICE will.”
The effect the law will have on the safety of the community will be devastating, he argued.
Smuggling organizations will use the law as a “selling point,” he said, adding that Brown “bit off a lot more than he can chew.”
Brown and other leaders of sanctuary cities are even violating federal law, he believes, noting that he’s asked the Department of Justice to look into whether they can be criminally charged.
The law to which Homan is referring to is 8 U.S. Code § 1324, which states that any person, "knowing... the fact that an alien has come to... the United States in violation of the law, conceals, harbors or shields from detection... such [an] alien in any place" could face several years in prison and/or fines.