PrintCA town wants to be exempt from state's sanctuary city policies
Not everyone in California is a liberal extremist or radical, open borders fanatic. In fact, there has been a movement around for years in Northern California to create a 51st state called "Jefferson." The area is far more conservative with traditional values and its economic interests - mining, timber, and fishing - is heavily regulated by the state. But the idea of a new state carved out of Northern California is probably a pipe dream at this point.
So perhaps it's not surprising that there is pushback against the extremist tide of government elsewhere in the state. Once city in Southern California recently passed an ordnance exempting it from the state's sanctuary laws.
The City of Los Alamitos will vote on an ordinance that would exempt it from the sanctuary city law that council members say conflicts with federal law.
Members say that the state law “may be in direct conflict with federal laws and the Constitution,” not to mention going against the oath they took in taking office, The Orange County register reports.
The council “finds that it is impossible to honor our oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” according to the ordinance.
The proposed legislation comes after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Justice Department was filing a lawsuit against California over three pieces of legislation that interfere with the federal immigration policy.
Like Los Alamitos council members, Sessions argued that the laws are not only unconstitutional, but also a “plain violation of federal statute and common sense.”
If the state chose to challenge the ordnance, Los Alamitos would surely lose. There would be chaos if local governments around the state chose which state laws to obey and which not to.
But the action by the city council is revealing. There is a growing divide between the radical state government and ordinary people who resent much of what Sacramento is foisting on California residents. A real backlash is growing and it's unclear how it will manifest itself. The GOP in the state is a dead letter, riven by factions and in disarray. They can offer only token resistance to the liberal tide.
But the state has been changed most often through the referendum process. One such referendum to repeal the state's sanctuary city law failed to gather enough signatures for the November, 2018 ballot. But organizers will try again and if the backlash builds, it will almost certainly succeed.
