News Flash: Common sense and patriotism are not dead in the state of California.
First, the city of Los Alamitos voted to denounce California’s sanctuary law when it voted in mid-March to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and hand criminal aliens apprehended by the city over for removal. Citing his pledge to uphold the Constitution of the United States as well as protect the welfare of the citizens of his small Orange County, California, community, Los Alamitos Mayor Troy Edgar explained that his city is in complete disbelief over what has transpired in Sacramento over their passage of the statewide sanctuary law. “I think we should 100 percent be coordinating and helping out federal agents,” he said.
Second, Dave Herrington, the mayor of Aliso Viejo, joined the chorus in publicly challenging the heresy coming out of Sacramento, which Herrington calls “unconstitutional.” “Sanctuary laws make us less safe,” said Herrington, a former Orange County Sheriff.
In another show of support against dangerous sanctuary policies, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens recently made the release dates of jail inmates – including illegal aliens – publicly available online. The Sheriff’s Department, which was forced to release 172 inmates back into the county in the last three months because of the state’s shortsighted sanctuary policies, is now taking steps to become part of the solution. Don Barnes, Orange County undersheriff, told the Los Angeles Times that ICE is now out looking for the released illegal aliens, and “it would be easier for everyone involved and safer for the community and law enforcement if they were relinquished to the custody of ICE rather than returned to the community.”
The open border lobby in Sacramento and their friends in the mainstream media began wondering what in the world could be happening in Orange County – once a stronghold of Republican politics – but most recently a county that voted to elect Hillary Clinton. And perhaps more importantly, will this anti-sanctuary contagion spread?
The answer was a resounding yes, and it came just days later when the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to denounce the state’s sanctuary laws. The county’s board of supervisors voted unanimously (3-0) to join the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the state of California. “This legislation prevents law enforcement from removing criminals from our community and is a threat to public safety,” Supervisor Shawn Nelson said prior to the vote.
Of course, there are now roughly 500 sanctuary jurisdictions throughout the country, so hopefully this battle will not have to be won community by community. But clearly – and even in one of the bluest states – there are public officials who take their oaths to uphold the U.S. Constitution seriously and have bravely demonstrated that they prioritize public safety over making political statements on immigration.