Appellate court overturns ruling exempting Huntington Beach from ‘sanctuary state’ immigration law

A panel of appellate court justices Friday overturned an Orange County Superior Court judge’s ruling siding with Huntington Beach in its lawsuit challenging California’s so-called sanctuary state law. “I’m very disappointed in the ruling and will talk to the City Council about the next steps, but I don’t believe, based on all of my extensive research of all of the case law, that this is a reasonable, final word on this.” In an interview in October, when attorneys for California, Huntington Beach and community groups presented arguments before the appellate panel, Gates said the California Constitution “allows the city to control its own police department” and that SB 54 “interferes or undermines that because it means to tell our officers what and what not to do.” The justices’ opinion is “saying that express constitutional authority is subordinate to analysis,” Gates said Friday. Gen. Xavier Becerra, on the other hand, said in a statement that his office is “pleased with today’s decision keeping California’s public safety laws fair and consistent across the state.” “As the appellate court noted, SB 54 is constitutional and furthers the state’s interests in addressing matters of statewide concern — including public safety and health, effective policing and protection of constitutional rights,” Becerra said. “The state did a very good job and we are very happy with the state’s decision in making charter cities comply with state law,” said Oscar Rodriguez, co-founder of Huntington Beach activist group Oak View Comunidad.