Central Coast reacts to DoJ lawsuit

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit seeking to undo California laws that extend protections for immigrants living in the United States illegally.

The lawsuit was filed late Tuesday in Sacramento. It says three state laws intentionally undermine federal immigration law. The Justice Department says those laws hinder immigration authorities and are unconstitutional.

Those laws: AB 450, which prevents employers from cooperating with federal immigration officials. AB 103 imposes a state-run inspection and review of facilities and enforcement efforts and SB 54, the so-called Sanctuary State law “limits the ability of state and local law enforcement officers to provide the U.S. with basic information about individuals who are in their custody and are subject to federal immigration custody or to transfer such individuals to federal immigration custody.”

Monterey County is right in the middle of the debate, as we are home to thousands of immigrants, both documented and undocumented. We wanted to find out if the lawsuit will impact the county.

A number of cities in Monterey County have declared themselves “sanctuary cities,” and Monterey County calls itself a “welcoming community.”

Monterey County Counsel Charles McKee said all the while, they’ve complied with federal law and doesn’t expect anything to change in the meantime.

“There’s no definition of sanctuary jurisdictions first of all, and as far as I can tell, there’s nothing to prevent federal immigration authorities from doing their job,” McKee said. “It’s their job to enforce federal immigration laws, not local authorities.”

McKee said the suit was filed in Federal District Court in Sacramento. If it is later appealed by either side, it would go to the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco. From there, it could go up to the Supreme Court. He believes a decision could be made in about two years. In the meantime he doesn’t expect anything to change in Monterey County.

“We’re going to follow our local policies as well as federal law, as well as state law,” McKee said. “We think we’ve been complying with both federal and state law all along and that our policies at the Sheriff’s Office are fully compliant with federal law, so I don’t see any change. I also don’t see any change regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit here locally in Monterey County because in my opinion, we are following federal law.”

The only clash he sees is if local jurisdictions were forced to hold someone longer than their release date. He believes it would violate the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The reaction on Facebook was varied, to say the lead.

One person wrote about Attorney General Jeff Sessions, “Who cares what this chronic perjurer thinks? He should be in jail.”

Another was against the state: “Shut up, sick of people not supporting American citizens. Brown is an idiot.”

We also got reaction from some elected officials.

Sheriff Steve Bernal said he and the California State Sheriff’s Association are watching what happens closely. He just wants clarification of the laws and a resolution between the state of California and the federal government. In the meantime, his office will continue to do what they can to protect the community.

Rep. Jimmy Panetta spoke out against the lawsuit, saying “The Department of Justice’s lawsuit undermines our local law enforcement’s ability to protect and serve. The federal government should not threaten public safety by taking personnel funding away from our state, counties, or cities because we prioritize protecting all members of our community.”