Resolution: Shasta not a sanctuary county

Bucking a new California law providing protections to immigrants living in the country illegally, Shasta County officials plan to vote this week on a resolution to declare that the county complies with federal immigration laws and is not a “sanctuary” county.

Shasta County Supervisor Steve Morgan said he and other supervisors have received a lot of requests from county residents to take some action on the issue of whether county law enforcement would assist federal immigration authorities.

“We are making a statement that we are not a sanctuary county,” Morgan said Sunday. “It’s the right way to go.”

Under SB54, starting Jan. 1 law enforcement in California is barred from asking people about their immigration status or participating in federal immigration enforcement activities.

Jail officials only will be allowed to transfer inmates to federal immigration authorities if they have been convicted of certain crimes.

Supervisor Les Baugh said he supported the resolution because it would send a message to state officials that the county opposed the state law.

"I do not understand why California would want to protect folks with illegal status in the state," Baugh said Sunday.

However, the resolution the Shasta County Board of Supervisors is set to vote on Tuesday may not have any legal effect, according to a county counsel’s review of SB54, known as the “sanctuary state” law.

County Counsel Rubin E. Cruse Jr. wrote in a Dec. 12 memo that if the county adopted a resolution similar to ones passed by the city of Anderson and Tehama County “then the resolution has no practical legal effect because the county will still be acting in compliance with the legal obligations imposed by SB54.”

Because the county is a subdivision of state government it can't legally disregard SB54 or any other state law, Cruse said.

Those resolutions say the agencies plan to assist U.S. immigration within the “limits of its resources … and other legal obligations,” Cruse wrote.

Shasta County's proposed resolution says it will try to assist federal immigration “within the limits of its legal obligations, including the limits of its legal obligations imposed by state law and judicial authority.”

The proposed resolution also goes further, saying “Whereas the County of Shasta is a political subdivision of the state of California and, as such, may not lawfully disregard the requirements of state law in the absence of a court order that the law is invalid.”

Morgan said Sunday he would prefer Cruse comment on the legal effect of the proposed resolution. Cruse could not be reached at his office Sunday.

Baugh said he thought it was an important issue for the board to take up.

"It's not only a public safety issue, but we're literally creating a class of folks in my mind who are here illegally," he said.