After a heated five hours of public testimony, the Upland City Council directed its attorney to file a supporting brief in a coastal city’s lawsuit against California’s controversial sanctuary state law.

The move is meant to seek clarification for the Upland Police Department on its cooperation with federal authorities, officials said, not an attempt to increase immigration enforcement in the city.

More than 80 people spoke out Monday, April 23, some urging the city to comply with Senate Bill 54, the California Values Act, and others encouraging leaders to take a stand against it. Attendees clashed throughout the night, causing numerous disruptions that led some to be escorted out of the council chambers.

The meeting, which started at 7 p.m. Monday, wrapped up around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.

“I believe our police force needs our support more than ever,” said Mayor Debbie Stone. “I believe that they have got so many issues and so many challenges that they have to fight on a daily basis to protect us. Do I agree with what was said here tonight? To be very honest with you, no. I said it before and I’ll say it again. It broke my heart to see how you guys acted toward each other. That’s not the city of Upland. That’s not how we operate.”

Stone, and council members Carol Timm, Gino Filippi and Sid Robinson voted in favor of filing a brief in support of a lawsuit the city of Huntington Beach plans to file against the state. Councilwoman Janice Elliott voted against it.

The debate over whether the city should take a position on SB 54, which puts new limits on state and local law enforcement’s ability to help the federal government enforce immigration law, began before the council meeting, as it has in communities across the region.

Specifically, the state law prohibits police in California from helping immigration officers detain immigrants accused of most non-violent crimes, though police remain cooperative with federal authorities when it comes to holding people accused of violent crimes, multiple drug and alcohol offenses and hundreds of other exceptions.

The law is part of a larger effort by California’s elected Democratic leadership to defy President Donald Trump’s policies, especially his crackdown on illegal immigration. The U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit against the state, while cities such as Huntington Beach have either filed their own lawsuits, filed amicus briefs in support of a suit or taken other steps to show their opposition to SB 54.

Critics of the law say it protects dangerous criminals and encourages illegal immigration, while its defenders say Trump’s deportation policies splits families apart and targets people who aren’t a threat.

City council meetings where the law has been on the agenda have been packed and featured emotional, high-volume testimony, with a dedicated group of SB 54 foes going from city to city to urge elected leaders to oppose the law.

Protesters for and against the law gathered outside Upland City Hall before the meeting, some holding signs and others chanting.

The protests continued for those who could not get inside the chambers.

The crowd is hearing some opposition to SB 54. pic.twitter.com/pOdO82bKx5 — Sandra Emerson (@ReporterSandraE) April 24, 2018

Upland residents, activists, students, and members of We The People Rising, an anti-illegal immigration organization, packed the City Council chambers. So many people showed up for the meeting, officials turned away about 100 once the chambers were filled to capacity.

More than 200 people filled out cards requesting to speak on the item, but many left as the meeting went into the early morning hours.

“We’ve been here before,” Upland resident Paulette Feeney said outside City Hall prior to the meeting. “It’s very easy to do. You round up a group to scapegoat. You blame them for all your problems. You wrap yourself in a banner of law and order and there you are.”

Feeney was among an organized group of Upland residents who addressed the council and handed out packets of information supporting the legality, economic benefits and morality of SB 54.

“We need to look at the research backed data and enough of this divisive fear and this hate, because that is dividing our country, dividing our community,” Irmalinda Osuna, an Upland resident who put together information in support of the law, told the council. “Your job is to keep us together no matter what. Keep us together and listen to the local community. I beg you.”

Steve Bierbaum, also of Upland, asked the council to oppose the law for the city and its police department.

“I want you to do it for our law enforcement officers and public safety officials, so they can every single day come to work and know that there’s no question about what they can and can’t do,” said Bierbaum, who shared that his two children are immigrants and now United States citizens.

“Not everybody who comes here illegally is a bad person, but it is illegal to come here illegally,” he said. “I simply ask that you think about the city of Upland first and foremost and do what staff has recommended and allow our police officers to do their job.”

Support for local law enforcement and the country’s immigration laws were cited numerous times by speakers in opposition to the law.

“It’s about public safety,” said Loree Masonis, a local resident who spoke against the law. “It’s about protecting the public. The residents should be supportive of Upland law enforcement being able to do their duties without any interference from Sacramento.”

Earlier in April, the city of Huntington Beach voted to file a lawsuit against the state in opposition to SB 54. A number of other cities have taken the issue up, some voting to join suits already filed and others, including the cities of Beaumont in Riverside County and Yucaipa in San Bernardino County, voting to take official positions against the law. The city of Hemet is expected to discuss SB 54 on Tuesday, April 24.

Meanwhile, there are no plans for supervisors in Riverside or San Bernardino counties to take up the matter.

Upland will focus its brief on an ambiguity in the law related to local law enforcement’s ability to work with federal agencies in non-immigration investigations, such as terrorism, drug and human and sex trafficking cases, and not to modify the department’s policy on immigration enforcement.

“There’s a lot of things officers already need to keep track of,” Captain Marcelo Blanco told the council. “This law adds more ambiguity to their job. What do I report, what can I report, is this law something I can call … federal agencies over or is it not?”

For example, Blanco said, the department worked with Department of Homeland Security in a sweep of massage parlors in and arrested several individuals who were soliciting illegal activity, a misdemeanor.

“Most of the time the females involved in this are part of human trafficking, so while we can’t determine that because they won’t tell us that information, we can use our federal partners to, in a sense, turn that person over to them,” Blanco said. “They can continue that investigation, which can be a multi-state type of investigation to reduce human trafficking.”

The same would apply in narcotics and terrorism investigations, he said.

Filing the brief does not mean the city is joining the lawsuit nor will the Police Department opt out of enforcing the law.

“We’re not in the business of deporting people,” Blanco said. “That’s not our job. We’re in the business of protecting the residents of the city of Upland.”

Elliott said she supports the Upland Police Department, but was concerned filing the brief could lead to unintended consequences.

“I understand you made that very narrow and technical and it makes sense to me,” Elliott said, “but I don’t think that that’s the way the word is going to be disseminated. I think the word, the message, is going to be ‘Ah, Upland has sided with Huntington Beach, therefore it is not safe if you are here illegally.”

Staff writers Craig Shultz and Jeff Horseman contributed to this report.