Is Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty Violating Federal Immigration Law

Earlier this week the Globe reported on a proposed bill in the U.S. Senate that would allow the victims of crimes committed by illegal aliens to sue the sanctuary cities that facilitated that crime. In “Make California Safe Again: Bill Introduced to Cut Sanctuary Cities’ Federal Funding,” we document how California’s sanctuary state law puts everyone in danger, and provide the history of Democrats prioritizing illegal criminal aliens in the state over law-abiding legal citizens.

Sacramento’s newest leftist Mayor, Kevin McCarty, fresh out of the California Legislature, thought it was more important to let “immigrant communities” believe they are in danger of being deported because of President Trump’s administration, rather than differentiate between “immigrant communities” and those who are in the state and in Sacramento illegally, committing crimes and victimizing residents.

Democrats really are cruel.

“Immigrant communities are at the heart of Sacramento’s culture and commerce,” said Mayor Kevin McCarty. “We will continue to stand up for these communities and work to protect their safety and security.”

“Since 1985, Sacramento has been a self-designated sanctuary city, and I’m proud those same values are reflected today, 40 years later,” said Mayor Pro Tem Eric Guerra. “With this and state law, Sacramento police officers are prohibited from asking for immigration status or assisting in immigration enforcement. Sacramento will not turn its back on the community.”

Don’t you feel all warm and fuzzy knowing that these feckless Democrats “will continue to stand up for these “immigrant” communities and work to protect their safety and security” instead of yours?

The Mayor and Sacramento’s City Council are playing for the wrong team – the unconstitutional team.

Of course the Sacramento Police Department parrots this… sort of:

Sacramento politicians and the police department must be a reason that California Rep. Kevin Kiley authored the Freedom to Cooperate Act, which “overrides the Sanctuary State by enabling jurisdictions in California to opt out of it. Those that want to do the right thing and cooperate with federal immigration enforcement will be liberated to do so,” Rep. Kiley said.

But Wait! There’s More!

As one of her first actions upon being confirmed by the US Senate as Attorney General Wednesday, Pam Bondi ordered a freeze on federal funding to sanctuary cities after being sworn in to office the same day, Just the News reported.

She also will issue orders to combat the weaponization of the legal system; make prosecutors seek the death penalty when appropriate; and work with the Department of Homeland Security to “completely eliminate” cartels and transnational criminal organizations, Fox News reported.

Let’s see, who are you going to throw in with – Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty or Attorney General Pam Bondi? That’s an easy answer.

While McCarty and Guerra are hiding behind California state law (Senate Bill 54) which “prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from enforcing federal civil immigration laws—this is handled exclusively by federal agencies,” it is a direct violation of federal immigration law, which El Dorado DA Vern Pierson reminded California Attorney General Rob Bonta last week: “SB54 arguably stands in conflict with federal law because it obstructs the federal government’s ability to enforce immigration laws effectively,” Pierson said in his letter to the AG.

In December, the Globe reported:

Remember when in 2010 the Obama administration sued Arizona over the state’s passage of strict new immigration laws because the state was under attack from violent Mexican drug and immigrant smuggling cartels? Remember that Obama announced he was taking back control over the issue while ignoring that border states were desperate for more security?

The Obama administration argued the Arizona law, which required state and local police to investigate the immigration status of anyone they reasonably suspected of being an illegal immigrant, is unconstitutional and would sap law enforcement resources.

“Seeking to address the issue through a patchwork of state laws will only create more problems than it solves,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, said in a statement.

So which is it California? Which is it Mayor McCarty? Do the state’s immigration policies to “protect” illegal immigrants trump the federal government’s, or is President Donald Trump right to deport those in the state and country illegally?

California still is home to the largest illegal-alien population in the country, initially with 35 sanctuary cities, morphing into the full state as a sanctuary, courtesy of California’s Democrat lawmakers.

California became a sanctuary state in 2017, thanks to opportunistic California Democrats who authored bills to counter the immigration executive orders to protect Americans, of President Donald J. Trump – in violation of Trump’s constitutional authority.

Then-Senate President Pro Tem De León, D-Los Angeles, the author of Senate Bill 54, claimed that “immigrants are valuable and essential members of the California community” and all attempts to enforce immigration laws create fear of the police among “immigrant community members” who fear “approaching police when they are victims of, and witnesses to, crimes.”

Does that sound familiar?

SB 54 passed the California Legislature entirely along party lines, Gov. Jerry Brown signed it into law, and turned California into a sanctuary state.

I don’t think California city Mayors, nor will Gov. Gavin Newsom do well in their fight over illegal alien protections. As then-President Barack Obama made clear in 2010, immigration and illegal immigrants believed to be in the country illegally, is the responsibility of the federal government, and not each state.

Nor is it the responsibility of each Sanctuary City.