Newport Beach and Orange became the latest cities in California to put up a fight against the state’s sanctuary policies, voting to oppose the new law that protects illegal immigrants.
The city council’s vote in Newport Beach to support the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the state was unanimous. They also voted the same way on a resolution stating the city’s public opposition to the law.
The "City Council is committed to protecting the city of Newport Beach's residents through the enforcement of local, state and federal laws. The adoption of SB 54 has created a conflict between state and federal law and has restricted local law enforcement's ability to cooperate with federal authorities to protect California residents," the resolution says in part. "The conflict leaves the City Council no choice but to publicly state its opposition to SB 54."
"This is not an immigrant issue. We're all immigrants in this country," Councilman Scott Peotter said. "It is really (about) our police force being able to effectively fight criminals and coordinate with other agencies that do the same."
"We want to be a law and order city and a law and order state. We want to comply with federal law and state law. They put us into a situation where we have to choose and we don't like it," he added.
Meanwhile in Orange, the city council voted 3-2 for a resolution against the state’s sanctuary law.
“It’s making our voice heard, and supporting the County of Orange who really is the one dealing with custody and ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) communication issues,” Councilman Fred Whitaker told the Orange County Register.
The votes follow several other California cities that have taken similar action in recent weeks, including Los Alamitos, Huntington Beach, San Juan Capistrano, Aliso Viejo, Mission Viejo, Orange, Fountain Valley, Yorba Linda, Westminster, Ripon, and Hesperia.
This post has been updated.