Saying the legal action is needed to allow the city to protect the safety and health of its residents, the city of Huntington Beach has launched a court fight to overturn California's so-called "sanctuary state" law which blocks California cities, police and other government agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities to detain and deport criminal illegal immigrants.
Huntington Beach filed its lawsuit in Orange County federal court on Jan. 7.
"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," said Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns in a statement posted to social media announcing the lawsuit.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta
| California Attorney General's Office
"Huntington Beach will not sit idly by and allow the obstructionist Sanctuary State Law to put our 200,000 residents at risk of harm from those who seek to commit violent crimes on U.S. soil."
The supremacy clause declares that when state law seeks to contradict federal law that federal law should prevail.
The "Sanctuary State" law, also known as SB54, was enacted by California's Democratic legislative supermajority in 2017, largely in response to efforts by the administration of then-President Donald Trump to crack down on illegal immigration and illegal immigrant-enhanced criminal activity.
In its complaint, Huntington Beach asserted California's welcoming policies toward illegal immigration has inflicted a range of ills on the Golden State, including increased violent crime, property crimes, drug trafficking and human trafficking - including child sex trafficking. The city noted this has strained state and local resources to address the related public health and safety woes.
In this case, Huntington Beach asserts the "Sanctuary State" law violates federal immigration law and unlawfully interferes with the ability of federal agencies to enforce national immigration laws within California.
On its face, the "Sanctuary State" law forbids state and local government agencies and officials from cooperating with federal immigration officers in seeking to detain and deport illegal immigrants, including prohibiting state and local police from granting federal requests for "holds" on illegal immigrants who have either been accused of or convicted of committing crimes in California.
But Huntington Beach asserts in its complaint that California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta and other Democratic officials who dominate Sacramento and other governments in the state have gone much farther, using billions of dollars in state benefits and offers of protection to incentivize illegal immigrants to enter and remain in California, while working against enforcement of immigration laws within the state.
They noted Newsom, in particular, has "taken a series of substantial steps to incentivize the inflow of illegal immigration into California, and to protect and harbor illegal immigrants, with the implementing of policies and laws to hire illegal immigrants in State government."
The city further asserted the "Sanctuary State" law places cities and officials in Huntington Beach and elsewhere in California in the legally intractable position of having to choose whether to follow California state law or federal law.
In its complaint, Huntington Beach noted in 2023, the Orange County Jail was forced to release 711 inmates for whom federal immigration authorities had issued a so-called "detainer" request.
Of those released, 67 criminal illegal immigrants were later arrested again for committing new crimes in Orange County, the city said, including such crimes as robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, narcotics trafficking, domestic violence, assault with a deadly weapon, and felony DUI.
"Huntington Beach police officers cannot comply with both State and Federal laws while carrying out their duty," the city wrote.
Essentially, the city said, the "Sanctuary State" law places police officers in Huntington Beach and elsewhere in the position of "concealing, harboring or shielding from detection an unauthorized alien in its 'building,'" which they said is a violation of federal law.
"The State cannot force the City to violate U.S. Federal immigration laws that both the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal and the United States Supreme Court have held preempted under the Supremacy Clause," the city wrote in its complaint.
"To put a fine point, as a Charter City, Huntington Beach's Police Department does not belong to the State. 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."
In announcing the lawsuit, Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates said the "legal challenge is incredibly strong," noting he believes it violates the U.S. Constitution and numerous federal laws, as well as the California state constitution.
"It is unfortunate that we have to fight the state of California in order to achieve sound and effective law enforcement policies," Gates said. "We will continue to fight for the safety of our community relentlessly and with vigor.”
In response to the lawsuit, Bonta's office issued a statement, which was published in an article by Fox News about the lawsuit. In that statement, Bonta's office said the attorney general would fight Huntington Beach's lawsuit to defend the state law.
"Our office successfully fought back against a challenge to SB54 by the first Trump administration, and we are prepared to vigorously defend SB 54 again," Bonta's spokesperson said. "Beyond that, we are reviewing the complaint and will respond appropriately in court."