"We are essentially put in a catch-22," Vern Pierson, district attorney of El Dorado County, told CBS13.
The California Values Act, Senate Bill 54, became state law in 2018 and solidified California as a sanctuary state. It ensures no state or local agency can help with federal immigration enforcement.
The law also states that courthouses, hospitals and schools are community safe spaces.
Attorney General Rob Bonta did not respond to CBS13's request for comment Tuesday, but Bonta has responded to Trump's immigration policies in the days leading up to and following his inauguration.
Pierson's point is that the roles are not clear. He says, consider this scenario: in a state rocked by the fentanyl crisis, if a dealer or trafficker who is in the country illegally were arrested and released on drug crimes in El Dorado County, Pierson says sheriff's deputies cannot under state law help federal officials detain that person or provide any non-public information.
Pierson says losing critical criminal justice grants would be devastating to departments statewide. "There is a very, very high likelihood that hundreds of millions of dollars are potentially going to be withheld by the federal government because of our insistence on adhering to the sanctuary state rule," said Pierson. SB 54 has been challenged in the Ninth Circuit federal court in the past and was upheld. Pierson argues the legal standing is shaky and that the Trump administration is likely to successfully strike it down in court.
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