SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Trump's pick for border czar is making waves with recent messaging around mass deportations, threatening jail time for anyone who stands in the way.
“Let me be clear. There is going to be a mass deportation because we just finished a mass illegal immigration crisis on the border,” said incoming border chief, Tom Homan, to Texas National Guard soldiers Tuesday.
“I’ve said a hundred times in the last week, ‘Don’t cross that line.’ It is a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien from immigration authorities," said Homan. "Don’t test us.”
In his remarks, Homan is referring to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. Within it, a federal statute states that harboring illegal immigrants is a federal crime.
“I believe Tom Homan with every ounce of my being will literally arrest mayors who don’t cooperate,” said Mayor Bill Wells for the City of El Cajon.
Mayor Wells points to Senate Bill 54, the California Values Act from 2017, that prohibits local law enforcement from cooperating with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“You’ve got the state government saying, ‘Hey, we’ll prosecute you if you do help, and we’ve got the federal government saying, ‘Hey, we’ll prosecute you if you don’t help,’ and we’re just trying to run a city and keep everybody safe.”
It’s a back and forth that has many local leaders and police officers caught in the middle.
“What you have here is a tug-of-war," said legal analyst Dan Eaton. “The question is whether California’s resistance to cooperating with federal immigration officials constitutes a form of harboring undocumented immigrants. That’s where the rubber meets the road, and that’s where there may be a potential level of legal risk.”
Mayor Wells is currently seeking answers from the State of California as to whether or not his police officers could face prosecution if they cooperate with ICE officials.
“All of those things put our police officers in a really bad situation," said Mayor Wells. "I don’t think it’s fair for them to get caught up in this political fight between the state and the city and the federal government.”
Next week, Mayor Wells plans to request that the El Cajon City Council send a letter to State Attorney General Rob Bonta seeking clarification on the issue.