As mass deportation sweeps continue in cities across the United States, including San Diego, the El Cajon City Council Tuesday considered whether to ask state Attorney General Rob Bonta for clarification on how to both follow federal immigration law and not to go afoul of a state law that forbids local police agencies from assisting federal authorities in immigration enforcement.
The council chambers were packed for the public hearing that lasted nearly five hours. Nearly 100 people spoke for and against the resolution, which gave the council a choice between holding off and waiting for the state and federal government to work out differences, or the city stating its support of federal immigration law, while pledging to also abide by state Senate Bill 54.
El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells, who introduced the item asking for further clarification said he favored the second option. Before the meeting, he told KPBS that the conflict between state and federal law put the city in an untenable position, and said he'd delivered that message to border czar Tom Homan, telling him, "You can't ask us to go against the state of California unless you indemnify us in some way, and I want you to come back with a plan to allow us to be following the rule of law but also not put our employees and our city in harm's way."
Also speaking to KPBS before the meeting, El Cajon native Ilka Weston said, "We're all working and together. We do not need to one, give more work to our officers in El Cajon, and two, the mayor has no right to try to create this type of hate."
After all the public testimony and another hour of debate between council members, the council, on a 3 to 2 vote, decided to go with option one and let the federal and state government sort it all out.
No other city in San Diego county has taken up a similar measure.
