Riverside is joining the ranks of Inland cities debating California’s sanctuary state law.

Councilman Chuck Conder asked at the Tuesday, April 24, City Council meeting that a discussion of the sanctuary state law be put on the council’s May 8 agenda.

“I request that, in the soonest possible timeframe, an item be agendized to discuss and adopt a resolution of the City Council declaring Riverside, being a city of laws, publicly affirm that we are not a sanctuary city,” Conder said.

The discussion will most likely be held at the regular June 12 City Council meeting, City Clerk Colleen Nicol said Wednesday after consulting with Interim City Manager Lee McDougal. The city’s sunshine resolution requires a resolution and report be prepared at least 12 days before the meeting.

This isn’t the first time the city has wrestled with the issue.

About 200 people converged on Riverside City Hall in February 2017 to support or oppose a resident’s suggestion that Riverside become a sanctuary city. There was no vote.

And in 2014, a proposal from Riverside City Councilman Andy Melendrez that the city affirm its support for the humane treatment of immigrants caused an outcry before the council rejected it.

Inland cities have come out in recent weeks against SB 54, the state intended to shield undocumented immigrants from deportation. The law puts new limits on state and local law enforcement’s ability to help the federal government enforce immigration law.

The Lake Elsinore City Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution opposing the law on Tuesday, April 24.

The Beaumont City Council approved a resolution against the sanctuary law in a 3-2 vote on April 17. In Wildomar, city leaders recently released an April 11 letter opposing SB 54.

In San Bernardino County, Yucaipa voted Monday night to write an opposition letter. Upland’s elected leaders decided after a meeting that lasted into early Tuesday morning to file a supporting brief in a lawsuit against the law. Earlier this month, Hesperia approved filing a brief in support of the Department of Justice, which has sued the state over the law.

People opposed to SB 54 rallied in Hemet on Tuesday, urging the city to come out against the bill. Andrew Kotyuk, an Assembly candidate who has organized many of the rallies, said he turned in 300 signatures of Hemet residents who oppose the bill.

Staff writer Craig Shultz contributed to this report.