ICE Director to California: SB 54 Won't Stop Us

Sheriff Jim McDonnell of Los Angeles County warned the state of California. He told the illegal alien activists and their enabling ilk that SB 54 would not stop ICE from doing their job.

Now they have to go right into the heart of communities, of schools, of every public space imaginable. They will not only target criminal illegal aliens, but they will pick up the illegal alien parents, relatives, and friends.

This legislation will not have any intended affect other than bringing ICE even closer to the populations that the Democratic Party claimed that they wanted to protect. This legislation is a total racket, another example of the abusive cynical political posturing of the liberal, progressive, self-righteousness elites in Sacramento and liberal urban enclaves throughout the country.

Shame on them for lying to their supporters, and shame on the whole lot for putting their feelings and their anti-American agenda ahead of the good will and safety of taxpayers, citizens, and every other legal resident population in need.

But guess what?

ICE does not care. They are going to conduct their federal responsibilities in accordance with federal law, regardless of what the state of California and their feckless, arrogant, overreaching state legislature.

Statement from ICE Acting Director Tom Homan on California Sanctuary Law

Governor Jerry Brown’s decision to sign SB54 and make California a sanctuary state for illegal aliens – including those who have committed crimes – will undermine public safety and hinder ICE from performing its federally mandated mission. The governor is simply wrong when he claims otherwise.

Yes, it will. The fact that police officers and officer associations up and down the state opposed the bill apparently did not make a difference to lawmakers. Governor Brown paid small lip service to law enforcement and asked for a clear list of criminal acts which would allow law enforcement to report certain illegal aliens to ICE.

The passage and enrollment of SB 54 was a dark day in California's legal and political history, just about as shameful as it gets, where political posturing matters more than public safety and the oath of office.

SB54 will negatively impact ICE operations in California by nearly eliminating all cooperation and communication with our law enforcement partners in the state, voiding the delegated authority that the Orange County Sheriff’s Office has under the 287g program, and prohibiting local law enforcement from contracting with the federal government to house detainees.    

One source has informed me that Orange County will "go rogue" in a sense, but in fact abide by constitutional law and continue working with ICE.

ICE will have no choice but to conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at worksites, which will inevitably result in additional collateral arrests, instead of focusing on arrests at jails and prisons where transfers are safer for ICE officers and the community. ICE will also likely have to detain individuals arrested in California in detention facilities outside of the state, far from any family they may have in California.

Sheriff McDonnell warned the entire state about this. He was right.

Ultimately, SB54 helps shield removable aliens from immigration enforcement and creates another magnet for more illegal immigration, all at the expense of the safety and security of the very people it purports to protect.

Yes. It's already bad enough, since Kate Steinle, Sandra Duran, and Marcello Bisarello, among many other Californians like DeAndre Mitchell, are now dead because of illegal aliens and their rampant, regular crime sprees.

Despite the severe challenges that this law creates for ICE, we remain committed to our public safety mission and we will continue to do our sworn duty to seek out dangerous criminal aliens and other immigration violators. ICE seeks straightforward cooperation with all sheriffs and local elected officials. This misguided legislation will severely undermine those efforts.

Notice those wonderful words: "sworn".

An oath, a promise, an expectation of safety--all of these clear and honorable elements mean something to our federal government.

Too bad the state government of California does not care.

Final Reflection

Once again, there is a silver lining--and perhaps something larger--in this development. The California state legislature could not have made itself any less unpopular, it seemed, until this brazenly illegal measure.

Sanctuary cities are deeply unpopular across political spectra and ethnic backgrounds.

Conservative activists are already pushing for a statewide referendum against this legislation. A strong legal opposition in state and federal courts could enjoin this law from taking effect.

Despite these devastating actions, I rest confident that ICE will continue effectively doing their jobs, removing illegal aliens and discouraging mass immigration along our southern borders for the foreseeable future.