Tipsheet

Orange County Backs DOJ in Lawsuit Against California

Orange County California is backing the Justice Department in its lawsuit against California. 

Tuesday evening, the Orange County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution rejecting a recent law [SB54] passed and signed by Governor Jerry Brown that makes California a sanctuary state. 

"The Orange County Board of Supervisor does hereby reject the effort through state law to violate the Constitution of the United States and instead will comply with the appropriate Federal Laws and the Constitution of the United States and encourage all cities and agencies within the County of Orange to do the same," the resolution states. 

During an interview on Fox News, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens detailed how her Department will work with I.C.E. to make the community safer. 

"As the Sheriff of Orange County I feel responsible for the public safety of the citizens of our county. SB54 does not allow for that and so starting yesterday, I have started posting the names and the dates of release of all our inmates as publicly accessible to everyone in the community," Hutchens said. "What I'm doing is entirely within the confines of the law  and I'm doing what I think is important for my constituents. It's a public safety issue to me, it's not about immigration at all. It's about individuals who have committed violent crimes."

"Let me just give you some examples of some individuals we've had to release: sex with a minor, child cruelty, domestic violence. I don't think I could sleep at night knowing that I had let somebody go and they go out and commit another crime with those kinds of charges," she continued.

Hutchens has been threatened with arrest by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra for working with I.C.E to remove violent criminal aliens from the streets.

The Department of Justice is applauding the move by Orange County just weeks after Attorney General Jeff Sessions travelled to the state to announce the lawsuit. 

"The Justice Department welcomes Orange County’s decision to support our lawsuit against California’s so-called ‘sanctuary state’ policies. Orange County’s residents have experienced firsthand the negative effects of SB 54, which mandates releasing criminal aliens back into their communities instead of into the custody of federal immigration authorities," Justice Department spokesman Devin O'Malley said in a statement. "The Orange County Board of Supervisor does hereby reject the effort through state law to violate the Constitution of the United States and instead will comply with the appropriate Federal Laws and the Constitution of the United States and encourage all cities and agencies within the County of Orange to do the same."