Huntington Beach is the latest city in California to push back against the state’s immigration policies, with the city council voting 6 to 1 to sue The Golden State over its sanctuary law, which limits cooperation between local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration officials.
Last month Los Alamitos voted to exempt itself from the law, but Huntington Beach’s move could make it the first city in the state to sue California over the issue, according to Mayor Mike Posey.
The Department of Justice is suing California over the issue as well.
Both Posey and Councilman Erik Peterson called the state law “constitutional overreach.”
"We hope that a majority of our colleagues will agree with Mayor pro-tem Peterson and I that we want the city attorney to file a suit against the state of California to exempt us from SB54. We're not going to be writing an ordinance, we're not going to be doing something like that. We're suing on the constitutional overreach grounds," Posey said.
The votes also aims to get other cities on board, directing City Attorney Michael Gates "to work with the county or other municipalities that wish to join our efforts," the Orange County Register reports.
HUNTINGTON BEACH GETTING READY TO OPT OUT OF #SB54 https://t.co/uq3cddvzlT
— Omar Navarro (@RealOmarNavarro) April 3, 2018
Huntington Beach will undoubtedly face resistance, as state attorney general Xavier Becerra vowed to take action against officials who fight the law.
"State law is state law. It’s my job to enforce state law and I will do so. We want to make sure that every jurisdiction, including Orange County, understands what state law requires of the people and the subdivisions of the state of California," Becerra said at a news conference last month.