(NewsNation) — One San Diego-area city, receiving conflicting direction from local and federal authorities over immigration matters, was prepared to revoke its “sanctuary city” status until facing backlash from residents.
“We have the federal government saying we could be prosecuted if we don’t cooperate with them, and the state government saying our police could be prosecuted if they do cooperate,” said Mayor Bill Wells of the city of El Cajon, about 15 miles northeast of San Diego.
California is a sanctuary state, and existing law prevents state and local law enforcement from aiding federal immigration authorities.
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Wells and El Cajon city council members had planned to vote on a resolution that would have revoked its status as a sanctuary city, but the vote is now tabled — an early illustration of the tussle between local and federal authorities over immigration.
Wells said he met with Tom Homan, a former ICE acting director and so-called “border czar” under the new Trump administration, in Arizona three weeks ago.
“I laid this out to him, and I said, ‘We want to cooperate. We want to do everything we can to help with this immigration invasion problem, and we want to be good, law-abiding parts of the United States of America, but you got to have to help us because the state of California sees it differently,’” Wells said on “NewsNation Prime” Saturday.
He said his concern is local officers’ safety.
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“I’m worried about our police officers because the way the California law is written, they could be prosecuted, they could lose their pensions, they could lose their job. They could even be sued civilly if they cooperate with ICE agents,” Wells said.
About 100 miles north, Huntington Beach’s mayor successfully passed a measure that declared the community a “non-sanctuary city” — something El Cajon’s mayor is still pushing for.
“We have to have borders, language and culture if we want to have a nation,” Wells said. “Stop the last grasp of trying to stand in the way of what Trump’s doing. Embrace it. Let it happen and let us all have a safer place to live.”
