Republican Mayor Bill Wells and the City of El Cajon have filed a lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the state itself, arguing that its sanctuary law actively encourages illegal immigration in violation of federal criminal statutes.
The lawsuit targets Senate Bill 54, which severely restricts state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
The city, backed by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), contends that California’s entire sanctuary regime, including driver’s licenses, in-state tuition, workplace protections, and limits on ICE cooperation, amounts to illegal “encouragement or inducement” of aliens to reside in the United States, a federal felony under 8 U.S.C. § 1324.
The lawsuit was sparked when Homeland Security officials alerted El Cajon police about approximately 52 undocumented children potentially living in unsafe conditions alongside illegal alien adults, raising serious concerns about sex trafficking and exploitation.
When city officials asked the California Attorney General’s office whether officers could conduct basic welfare checks on these children, the response was effectively “no,” as doing so would violate SB 54.
Mayor Wells explained in a Fox News op-ed:
A few months ago, the federal Department of Homeland Security contacted our city with a list of names and addresses of children who may be living unsupervised in unsafe conditions alongside illegal alien adults. Knowing the prevalence of human trafficking in this region, we were gravely concerned about the wellbeing of these kids. We asked the attorney general’s office a simple question: could El Cajon police conduct welfare checks on these children who are potentially in danger? The answer from the Attorney General’s office was essentially “no”– not if our officers wanted to remain compliant with California law. The AG’s office told us that doing those welfare checks would violate Senate Bill 54, the state’s sanctuary law.
Read that again. The state told a city of 110,000 people that its police officers could not check on potentially endangered children simply because doing so may expose the addresses of illegal aliens.
That is the opposite of public safety – it is moral collapse.
The city is not challenging the law on the grounds of state funding or resources. Instead, it is testing a legal theory that has not been fully litigated before, that California’s sanctuary policies as a whole were deliberately designed to induce illegal residence, directly conflicting with federal immigration law.
Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office has already pushed back, warning Mayor Wells to “prepare for another loss” and insisting that sanctuary laws make Californians safer, according to a report from Law Enforcement Today.
Wells fired back directly, “Tell that to the children this law is endangering.”
Chairman of AFPI’s America First California chapter, Mike Garcia, said in a press release:
“This lawsuit represents AFPI’s commitment to supporting law enforcement who should not have to choose between abiding by federal law or state laws when they are just trying to do what is right for their citizens. Extreme policies from Sacramento put police officers’ careers in jeopardy and compromise the safety of all our communities.”
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