A beautiful city along the Southern California coast has declared itself a “non-sanctuary city” in a show of support for President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration.
Huntington Beach, located southeast of Los Angeles, approved the designation Tuesday after a unanimous City Council vote to support Mayor Pat Burns' resolution.
The move came just two days into Trump's presidency.
Burns said he is willing to support any effort by the Trump administration to enforce immigration law.
California is a sanctuary city, which means it limits cooperation with federal immigration officials.
“We need every law enforcement effort whenever it's called upon, whether it's fighting terrorists, whether it's fighting wallet thieves, or whatever it is, we need every law enforcement tool to to serve our citizens to the best of our ability,” Burn told ABC 7.
Despite the statement, Burns said he would not order his police officers to hunt for illegal aliens.
“It doesn't mean that our police are going to search, patrol and arrest people because they are illegal,” he said. 'That is not our capacity. That is a federal task.'
Mayor Pat Burns declared Huntington Beach a “non-sanctuary city” in a show of support for President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration
Burns said he is willing to support any efforts by the Trump administration to enforce immigration laws (Photo: Huntington Beach)
Burns believes California's sanctuary laws make it more difficult for state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities.
“It's taking away a link in a chain that we can't afford,” he told ABC 7. “We're weakening the law enforcement efforts in the city to make it the safest place.”
He also said his new appointment was not to fight the state, but to “put Huntington Beach first.”
'It's nothing to fight the state with. If so, so be it, but it is really meant to serve Huntington Beach,” he said.
In a statement, the city accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office of trying to “undermine the good work of federal immigration authorities,” including the Trump administration and its new “border czar” Tom Homan.
Within hours of his inauguration, Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border, allowing further mobilization in the area.
Trump ordered the military to “take all appropriate actions to assist the Department of Homeland Security in obtaining full operational control of the southern border.”
He also allowed the construction of a physical barrier on the southern border.
Within hours of his inauguration, Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border
Mayor Burns said the statement was not intended to fight the state of California, but to “put Huntington Beach first.” In a statement, the city accused Governor Gavin Newsom of trying to “undermine the good work of federal immigration authorities.”
“To protect the safety of the citizens of America, to protect every member of the United States from invasion, and to fulfill my duty to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed, it is my responsibility as President to ensure that the illegal entry of aliens into the United States through the southern border must be immediately and completely halted,” he said.
Homan said Tuesday that Trump's mass deportation has begun as ICE agents can now arrest illegal immigrants in churches and schools.
Fox News reported Tuesday morning that Trump's Department of Homeland Security had rescinded a 2021 policy from President Joe Biden's DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that limited ICE enforcement in “sensitive” areas.
Those areas were described as churches, schools and hospitals, among other things.
Trump's Day One order recommended that ICE officers simply use “common sense.”
Homan confirmed Tuesday afternoon that deportations are taking place, but did not reveal details.
“As I have said several times, we are focused on threats to public safety. That will be our priority from the start,” he told CNN. “So ICE agents are back to doing their job.”
Homan said the “target of this operation” is illegal immigrants who have criminal records.
Despite the statement, Mayor Burns said he would not instruct his police officers to hunt for illegal aliens (Photo: Migrants at the Mexican border)
The border czar then outlined how sanctuary cities won't even allow ICE officials to remove illegal immigrants from jails, which will force agents into immigrant communities.
“If you release a threat to public safety from a prison and they don't want to give us access to him, that means we have to go into the neighborhood to find him, and we will find him, but if we find him, he maybe with others,” he said.
“There is nothing in the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act) that says you have to be convicted of a serious crime before you can leave this country,” Homan explained.
“So there could be more additional arrests in sanctuary cities because they forced us to go out into the community and find the man we're looking for.”
