EL CAJON, CA – The mayor of a California city roughly ten miles from the southern border announced his intentions to sue the state over sanctuary legislation he claims was designed “to encourage or induce” illegal immigration, which in turn violates federal law.
El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells shared in an editorial on Fox News his rationale for suing the state of California, mentioning how he never imaged he would “sue the state” he has lived his entire life in, yet the current circumstances surrounding California sanctuary laws and policies have seemingly forced his hand.
Mayor Wells detailed in the editorial “the moment” he came to his conclusion on whether to get litigious with California, mentioning how city officials had conversed with Homeland Security months earlier who’d shared information about children who “may be living unsupervised in unsafe conditions alongside illegal alien adults.”
In response to this news from Homeland Security, Mayor Wells had contacted the state attorney general to inquire whether El Cajon Police could conduct welfare checks of the addresses shared by the federal agency, to which he learned the mere act would likely violate California law protecting illegal immigrants.
“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,” Mayor Wells noted.
“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.”
Upon realizing the gravity of California’s sanctuary laws, which Mayor Wells described as “the opposite of public safety," the El Cajon mayor came to the conclusion that his city needs to test a legal theory he said has yet to be attempted in court in an effort to upend California’s sanctuary laws and policies.
“Other cities have tried to affect this outcome using different laws,” Mayor Wells mentioned in the editorial, later emphasizing after highlighting past failed attempts by other cities in court, “We are not arguing about state resources or state funding. We are arguing that California's entire sanctuary regime – the licenses, the tuition, the benefits – was designed to induce illegal residence in violation of federal criminal law. That argument has not been tested. It deserves to be.”
The El Cajon mayor is aware that the impending legal battle won’t be easy, mentioning how the state attorney general has already warned him to “prepare for another loss” in court and that the state’s sanctuary laws actually makes “Californians safer.” Mayor Wells counters said framing of California’s SB 54, emphatically adding, “Tell that to the children this law is endangering.”
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