The U.S. Department of Justice is supporting a lawsuit by Huntington Beach to overturn California’s sanctuary law.
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Huntington Beach declared itself a “non-sanctuary city” in January and sued the state in federal court to overturn the law, which prevents local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration officials.
A statement of interest filed Tuesday by the Department of Justice asks the court to side with Huntington Beach, saying the sanctuary law violates the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause by obstructing federal authorities from cooperating with local law enforcement.
“California’s existing state law is designed to interfere with local jurisdictions that want to carry out immigration enforcement,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “As this week’s violence in Los Angeles demonstrates, the safe administration of immigration enforcement is both paramount and under threat – laws that undermine immigration enforcement at great risk to agents and citizens must not stand.”
The California Attorney General’s office has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which is set to be heard in August.
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