After scraping a resolution addressing the role local police can play in assisting federal agents enforcing immigration laws two weeks ago, the El Cajon City Council will consider a similar, but revised resolution on Tuesday.
The new resolution declares the city’s “intent to comply with the enforcement of federal immigration law to the legal extent permissible for the sole purpose of removing those that have committed violent criminal offenses, as defined by California Penal Code Section 1192.7(c), from our community.”
The resolution, proposed by Mayor Bill Wells and Councilmember Steve Goble, also states El Cajon is not a sanctuary city and seeks assistance from the U.S. Attorney General’s office to indemnify the city and police officers for assisting or cooperating with federal immigration authorities as permitted by law.
In a telephone interview Friday, Goble said the resolution seeks to protect police officers who are doing their job from having their credential suspended by the state if they are perceived to have assisted ICE while doing their duty, such as chasing someone who ran a red light.
“We’re not allowed to join a Border Patrol chase if they come into our city,” he said. “However, if that person violates a city law such as speeding or running a red light, we are allowed to join that chase. I don’t want the state to say, ‘No, you shouldn’t have joined that chase.’ And I can say we’d lawfully joined that chase because it was not about immigration at that point. It was about running a red light.”
The group Latinos en Acción has announced a press conference at noon Tuesday in front of City Council chambers at 200 Civic Center Way, El Cajon, in opposition to the resolution. A flyer announcing the event states that California law already allows police to transfer violent criminals to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and expanding local police cooperation would mostly affect non-violent offenders and could lead to racial profiling.
Wells proposed a similar motion last month that he said was meant to clarify a perceived conflict in state and federal laws while also stressing the need for public safety in El Cajon. The Trump administration has vowed a crackdown on illegal immigration and mass deportations, while California Senate Bill 54 limits what local law enforcement can do in assisting federal agents.
In a heated council meeting Jan. 28, many people in attendance spoke in favor of the resolution while those in opposition said the proposal was rooted in racism and would leave many immigrant residents in fear. Discussion among council members showed a division that resulted in dueling resolutions with neither passing.
Councilmembers Michelle Metschel and Gary Kendrick proposed an alternative resolution that acknowledged the positive role immigrants had played in El Cajon and declared an intent to comply with SB 54 for the purpose of apprehending violent criminals. The council did not vote on the resolution that night.
Councilmember Phil Ortiz voiced support for Wells’ original motion, leaving Goble as a swing vote.
Goble had tried to work with Wells on a revision of the mayor’s motion at last month’s meeting, but during a 30-minute discussion on his proposal, he, the mayor and Ortiz disagreed on several points, including whether there should be a reference to SB 54 or of local authorities cooperating with federal authorities.
Goble’s alternative motion failed, with only he and Kendrick in support, and Wells’ original motion also failed, with only the mayor and Ortiz in support.
Goble said he and Wells talked after the meeting and have found common ground.
“All three versions (of the resolution) agreed we’re not going to obstruct or stop federal authorities from coming into town and doing their thing,” he said. “And the difference was the use of officers. I said, I just don’t want our officers to be exposed to liability.”
The new resolution strips direct references to SB 54, but Goble said it makes clear that officers will cooperate with ICE within the narrow boundaries allowed for in the state law.
Under SB 54, if police arrest an immigrant who had been convicted of committing an aggravated felony, been previously deported and has illegally returned to the country, local law enforcement can contact ICE if that person is apprehended, he said.
“That is the one time they can call ICE directly and say, ‘I’ve got a guy here, aggravated felony, deported, re-entered illegally, come get him,” Goble said.
Also on Tuesday, the City Council is scheduled to hold a workshop to review the downtown classic car cruise. Local business owners have complained that the event hurts their business because of a lack of parking, and there have been discussions about moving it away from downtown.
