The mayor of a wealthy California coastal community has criticized Democratic state lawmakers, claiming they are allowing an unimpeded flow of illegal immigrants after 21 immigrants were recently detained on a beach near his city. He expressed dissatisfaction with the sanctuary state policy.
Eighteen of the migrants detained by the U.S. Coast Guard a mile off the coast of Newport Beach earlier this month were from Mexico, two from Uzbekistan and one from Russia. They were turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Newport Beach Mayor Will O'Neal said the Democratic-controlled California State Legislature is facing potential financial and public safety risks while passing a sanctuary state law aimed at protecting undocumented immigrants from deportation. accused of ignoring the impact of
“The policies in (state capital) Sacramento are so extreme that they protect people who are actually known to be criminals who are in the country illegally,” O'Neal told Fox News Digital. He added that he is encouraging this.
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Newport Beach Mayor Will O'Neill addresses the media at the courthouse. O'Neal has expressed frustration to state lawmakers over illegal immigration and poor public safety across California. (Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Also known as “California Values Act” SB 54 is sometimes referred to as a “sanctuary state law” that prohibits state law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
The bill was signed into law in 2017 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. It mandates that no state or local resources be used to support federal immigration enforcement. Immigration enforcement measures at public schools, hospitals, churches, medical facilities, courthouses and libraries will also be restricted.
Newport Beach legislators opposed the bill at the time it passed.
O'Neill noted that in recent years, some migrants have bypassed California's southern border entirely and entered the country illegally by boat. Once ashore, many people would flee into waiting vehicles and disappear into the state, he said.
In May, Fox Los Angeles reported that 20 suspected illegal immigrants walked onto a pier in Newport Harbor and then scattered around town. O'Neill said if the boat carrying the 21 migrants had entered the port and been stopped by the Orange County Sheriff's Department, which patrols the area, local law enforcement would have been unable to do anything. I pointed out that it was possible.
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The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday arrested 21 migrants from a fishing boat about a mile off the coast of Newport Beach, California. (US Coast Guard)
The border is a key issue in the 2024 presidential election, and President-elect Donald Trump has frequently criticized the Biden administration and Vice President Kamala Harris.
California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has vowed to fight the incoming Trump administration to protect progressive policies on climate change, reproductive rights and immigration. President Trump has promised to carry out a major deportation operation once he returns to the White House, initially focusing on illegal aliens deemed a danger to the public.
Newsom's office said in a statement to Fox News Digital that most immigrants would rather settle in Texas and Florida than in other states, and that “state-level anti-immigrant policies deter immigration.” He said he has proven that he won't.
“They will simply harm our economy and our long-standing immigrant families, including families of U.S. citizens who have contributed to our communities for decades,” the governor's office said. “There was agreement on a bipartisan border security bill that would have strengthened border security resources, but Republicans scrapped it at President Trump's behest. Mayors' complaints should be directed in their direction.”
The failed border bill, opposed by Republicans and President Trump, would expand alternatives to detention for undocumented immigrants, provide work permits for those who pass an initial asylum screening, and increase the average border threshold of 5,000 people. It would have been set up. Fox News Digital previously reported that illegal immigrants crossed the border every day for a week before introducing emergency authorities from the Department of Homeland Security to ban them from crossing the border.
Many Republicans said the measure would make the border crisis worse and effectively dead on arrival.
Despite its intent, SB 54 would require local law enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants released from prison, including those convicted of felonies after completing a sentence in state prison. Contains exceptions that allow for cooperation with ICE.
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On Thursday, March 2, 2023, a yacht cruising Newport Harbor passes the Balboa Fun Zone Ferris wheel and takes in panoramic views of the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains. (Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Newsom has vetoed a bill that would eliminate that exemption, according to his office.
O'Neill said California, particularly Orange County, has seen an increase in crime and homelessness, as well as a decline in quality of life, during Newsom's tenure.
“Gavin Newsom is trying to turn California against Trump. We in Orange County are trying to turn Orange County against Newsom,” he said. “We know how dangerous our community is under his leadership.”
The mayor noted that Newsom's family recently purchased a multimillion-dollar home in the Bay Area's wealthy Marin County. Newsom's office previously told FOX Business that the family will split their time between Sacramento and Marin counties.
“They have altitude sickness,” O'Neill said of Democratic state lawmakers. “They're in an ivory tower in Sacramento.”
He noted that as mayor of San Francisco, Newsom appointed then-police chief George Gascón as district attorney. Gascón was ousted from his position as Los Angeles County's top prosecutor earlier this month after just one term amid heavy criticism that his progressive direction endangered communities and enabled criminals.
California Governor Gavin Newsom. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
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Republican state Rep. Bill Esseri said state Democrats talk about resistance to Trump and the Republican Party, but rarely respect different opinions.
“They're trying to make their own “We do not tolerate any opposition to our policies.”
“What Mr. Newsom is trying to say is frankly hypocritical. 'As a state, we want to be exempt from Mr. Trump's policies,' but Mr. Newsom has never said that local governments would be exempted from Mr. Trump's policies.” It will not be tolerated.”
FOX News Digital reached out to California Democratic Party and immigrant groups. The Orange County Democratic Party declined to comment.
Demonstrators are calling on Los Angeles city leaders to pass a sanctuary city ordinance. (Fox Los Angeles)
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Earlier this month, Los Angeles city leaders formally voted to become a sanctuary city to resist federal immigration raids and stricter policies. The city has followed sanctuary city guidelines for years, but the ordinance was never enacted into law.
City Councilman Hugo Sotomartínez said the legislation would ensure all Los Angeles residents “can interact with their government without fear that Donald Trump's deportation forces are on the way.” Ta.
