WEST COVINA >> Several local public officials on Wednesday came out against the “sanctuary state” bill making its way through the State Capitol, saying the legislation would free violent felons similar to the ones they’ve seen in their own cities recently.

The bill, SB 54, introduced by Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, would prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, detain, report or arrest persons for the purposes of immigration enforcement.

Walnut Mayor Eric Ching was joined by West Covina Mayor Pro Tem Mike Spence, West Covina Police Chief Dave Faulkner and state Sen. Joel Anderson, R-San Diego — outside West Covina City Hall, 1444 W. Garvey Ave.

Spence said the bill would make it difficult for the city’s police force to deport rapists, child molesters, and other violent felons here illegally.

“It usurps local control and limits the ability of local law enforcement to get rid of violent criminals,” Spence said, noting that the West Covina City Council voted last month to formally oppose the bill. “The state of California does not know what’s best for West Covina our police and our City Council does.”

Both Ching and Spence said the reason for holding the event in West Covina on Wednesday was to bring attention to the case of a local Lebanese man recently convicted of fatally striking a Walnut jogger.

West Covina resident Haissam Massalkhy was sentenced to four years in state prison this month for fatally striking a jogger in Walnut. At the time of the crash, Massaklhky’s green card may have been expired, and both Ching and Spence said felons like Massalkhy would be shielded from deportation if SB 54 passed.

But neither official acknowledged the factors complicating the man’s case, including the fact that, until recently, Massalkhy was a legal resident, according to his ex-wife.

Massalkhy, 37, pleaded “no contest” in February to a count of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for the Feb. 15, 2016, collision at La Puente Road and Barnard Avenue that killed 59-year-old father of three Chi “Jason” Shao, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and Los Angeles County Superior Court records.

Massalkhy was initially charged with murder in connection with the fatal crash.

“Statements were made at the scene that led people to believe it was done intentionally,” Lt. Steve Jauch of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau said.

Following additional investigation, however, prosecutors elected to accept a “no contest” plea to charge of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, according to sheriff’s and district attorney’s officials.

While an analysis of Massalkhy’s blood turned up no alcohol or illegal drugs, “there was a presence of a sleep aid in his system, Benadryl,” Jauch said.

The drowsiness-inducing antihistamine is available over the counter.

Ching said he still believed Massalkhy intentionally struck Shao.

“I think he made a statement afterwards that he wanted to do something, commit a crime or something, so he could stay in the United States,” Ching said. “I think he knew what he was doing.”

Massalkhy’s ex-wife, who did not want to be named, said she was not sure what her ex-husband’s current immigration status was. The two met in Kansas in 2013 while Massalkhy was visiting friends and family on a tourist visa. Once they were married, she sponsored him for a conditional green card, she said.

The two, were in the middle of divorce proceedings when he crashed his car. Because of their marital issues she was not willing to continue sponsoring him for a green card.

An official with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement could not confirm what Massalkhy’s resident status was on Wednesday.

She said Massalkhy, who grew up during Lebanon’s civil war, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and struggled with paranoia during their marriage.

“Simple things became a major thing,” she said, adding that they have a 2-year-old daughter together. “At one point, he was thinking that I was working with the FBI to put him in jail, so when your spouse suspects you of trying to do something then it really gets hard to function on a daily basis.”

While it’s unclear whether Massalkhy specifically would have been targeted by federal immigration officials for removal, the officials in West Covina Wednesday still lodged their concerns about SB 54.

The bill would prohibit law enforcement agencies from detaining individuals on the basis of immigration hold requests, collecting information about an individual’s immigration status and responding to ICE requests for a person’s release date.

The bill has garnered support from immigration advocates and others who believe the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration-law enforcement plans are harming trust between local law enforcement and immigrant communities.

Opponents say the bill goes too far because it protects violent felons from deportation and will do more to hurt that trust because ICE will have to go into the community to find them.

Anderson, who said he has been speaking in opposition to the legislation in the Capitol, said the “Dreamers,” or undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, would suffer most under the change in the law.

“It forces ice to go door to door looking for those felons and picking up Dreamers along the way,” said Anderson. ”There’s no greater threat to Dreamers than SB 54.”

Staff writer Brian Day contributed to this report.