The county sheriff of the California community where a 33-year-old police officer and legal immigrant was murdered this week by an illegal immigrant believes that the officer would still be alive had the county not been forced by the state government to cater to illegal immigrants.

“This is a criminal illegal alien with prior criminal activity that should have been reported to ICE,” Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said during a presser Friday morning following the arrest of suspect Gustavo Perez Arriaga for the murder of Newman Police Department Cpl. Ronil Singh.

“We were prohibited, law enforcement was prohibited because of sanctuary laws and that led to the encounter with Singh. I’m suggesting that the outcome could have been different if law enforcement wasn’t restricted, prohibited or had their hands tied because of political interference.”

Listen:

Arriaga murdered Singh during a traffic stop early Wednesday morning, the day after Christmas. Though he already had two DUI arrests on his record before Singh pulled him over, local authorities had been prohibited by California’s “sanctuary city” laws from reporting him to ICE.

The state boasts laws that prevent authorities from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when they detain or arrest illegal immigrants suspected of committing crimes.

“I’m not against lawful, legal immigration to this community. … but by doing this, you’ve now created a sanctuary for criminals, people who are here legally victimizing and exploiting others,” the sheriff pointed out Friday evening during a discussion with Fox News fill-in host Jason Chaffetz.

“There’s a category of crimes below a certain threshold that we’re prohibited statutorily from communicating with ICE,” he continued, noting that Arriaga’s DUIs were clearly under this threshold.

…

…

Listen to part one of that discussion below:

The sheriff added that the state’s laws are so strict that his department can’t even report Arriaga’s accomplices to ICE.

“They’re primarily family members and associates, all of whom were actively engaged in aiding and abetting this criminal fugitive,” he told Chaffetz. “They did their best to throw us off the trail, but we’re smarter than that, and they went to jail.”

“Are they here illegally as well,” the Fox fill-in host asked.

“Yes,” Christianson replied.

“Can ICE even be told that these others are now in custody?” Chaffetz prodded.

“No, based on their charges and their criminal histories … at this point I can’t honor the detainers,” the sheriff replied.

Listen to the rest of the discussion below:



“It’s a bad public safety policy, and it’s dangerous and irresponsible, plain and simple,” the sheriff said of the state’s policies, which sadly have been popping up across the entire nation.

“ICE is looking for fugitives and criminals. That’s all they’re doing. It used to be that they could come into my jail and take a collection of people who were fugitives and wanted,” he continued.

“SB54, in essence, restricted the ability of ICE to even have access to our facilities. We need to have a dialogue. And I hope the death of Officer Singh, who was needlessly and tragically gunned down, that his death is not in vain.”

HERE’S WHAT YOU’RE MISSING …

SB54, also known as the California Values Act, became law on Jan. 1. The law limits what state and local officials can share with federal authorities about the immigration status of California residents.

Most controversially, SB54 prevents jail officials from honoring ICE detention requests and, in some cases, notifying immigration officials when criminal aliens are going to be released from custody.

Christianson is among a growing number of California sheriffs who’ve been critical of the law.

“[Y]ou can’t provide sanctuary for criminals. That — all that does is silence the voices of our victims, and I certainly didn’t sign up to do that. … Why are we providing sanctuary for people who victimize and exploit the weak and the defenseless? We should not be doing that,” the sheriff noted during an earlier Fox News discussion last week.

It’s a sentiment shared by President Donald Trump and a large number of Americans:

California’s sanctuary policies are illegal and unconstitutional and put the safety and security of our entire nation at risk. Thousands of dangerous & violent criminal aliens are released as a result of sanctuary policies, set free to prey on innocent Americans. THIS MUST STOP! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2018

Horrific crimes like this is why Texas passed a ban on sanctuary city policies. We don’t want Texas to become a sanctuary for illegal immigrants like California. We insist on working with ICE to enforce the law & keep Texans safe. #txlege #ICE https://t.co/lw4Z6CoEZq — Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) December 29, 2018

If I was a law enforcement officer in California I would arrest Jerry Brown and the federal judge who approved this sanctuary city bill. Even if it cost me my career. At least I would be able to to look myself in the mirror as someone who honored their oath of office. — Clinton Michael (@ThinBlueLine614) December 29, 2018

Liberal Democrat politicians killed a police officer – their sanctuary city nonsense was responsible for the officer’s murder. Liberal Democrat’s partners, the media, are burying the story and deliberately not reporting it: https://t.co/X0lYtcbt3M — MARK SIMONE (@MarkSimoneNY) December 29, 2018

Officer Singh and all first responders need to be protected by the laws of our country. The thug who killed Officer Singh was protected by Sanctuary City statutes. This is wrong. California politicians need to hear from all of us across the country. Pelosi’s numbers are below. pic.twitter.com/7GiLcWx77h — WakeUpAmerica (@WakeUpA51759382) December 29, 2018

The child in this photo lost his father due to POOR BORDER PROTECTION and CALIFORNIA’S FAILED SANCTUARY CITY POLICY. Blood is on the hands of Democrats. @NancyPelosi & @SenSchumer are limousine liberals who care more about partisan politics than Americans. #BuildTheWallNow pic.twitter.com/xPcxTRrEwE — JANE ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@kelcrw4) December 29, 2018

You need to arrest Jerry brown and force immigration reform rounding up all illegals, please Build the wall please secure our southern border. — Ronald Baak (@RonaldBaak1) December 29, 2018

HERE’S WHAT YOU’RE MISSING …