Bondi opens new front in sanctuary state war

Politico

4 days ago

SANCTUARY STANDOFF: Donald Trump has long excoriated California's sanctuary state immigration law, and now his administration is openly challenging local law enforcement to violate it.
Attorney General Pam Bondi recently sent letters to sheriffs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Riverside and San Diego counties saying they have 30 days to share a litany of information about immigrants in their jails. This includes a list of those who aren't citizens, crimes for which they've been arrested or convicted and their release dates.
'I hope that you will voluntarily produce this requested information in furtherance of our shared duty to keep the citizens of San Francisco County safe and secure,' Bondi said in one letter. 'But if you refuse to voluntarily produce this information, the Department of Justice will pursue all available means of obtaining it, including subpoenas or other compulsory process.'
But doing so would violate SB 54, which California leaders approved during Trump's first term. It prohibits local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officers in most cases. Police and sheriff's deputies aren't allowed to ask those they arrest about their immigration status, and they can only disclose release dates and other jail information if it's related to inmates convicted of serious crimes.
The sanctuary law has withstood legal challenges, with the Supreme Court declining to review it in 2020. This leaves Bondi to pressure local officials into a kind of pick-your-poison standoff — either with the state or with the federal government.
The California Department of Justice will 'review [Bondi's] directive and monitor its implementation for compliance with the law,' said Nina Sheridan, a DOJ spokesperson.
'President Trump and his Department of Justice cannot bully our local law enforcement into breaking the law,' Sheridan said in a statement.
So far, the officials who've received the letters aren't exactly jumping at the chance to share information with the attorney general.
When asked about the letter last week, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said during a press conference he hadn't yet received it and would be consulting with county attorneys about the kinds of information he could legally release.
The sheriff's department uploads fingerprints for those in custody to a national database that's shared with state, regional and federal law enforcement, Luna said. It also already posts inmates' names, booking numbers and release dates online. But Luna emphasized his department doesn't collect immigration status information.
'For those who ask us, 'Hey, how many people do you have in custody that are immigrants?' We don't know the answer to that, because none of us ask that question,' he said.
Similarly, San Francisco County Sheriff Paul Miyamoto said in a statement to Playbook that federal officials already have the identity and fingerprints of everyone in the county's jail. They can use a warrant or a court order to arrest people, and the sheriff's office will 'respond to any request for information consistent with local, state, and federal law.'
'My priority is public safety — not politics,' Miyamoto said. 'And we will not foster fear in immigrant communities by acting as an arm of immigration enforcement.'
The San Diego County Sheriff's Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco — a Republican who's running for California governor and has been highly critical of SB 54 — was more opaque when asked about the letter. Lt. Deirdre Vickers, a sheriff's office spokesperson, said in a statement they would 'cooperate with the federal government within the confines of state law.'
Asked for more specifics about the kind of information the office would provide, Bianco called Vickers' statement 'a very plain and complete answer.'
'I guess it's just not suitable for an anti-law enforcement bias looking for a gotcha or a sensationalistic headline,' he said in an email.
IT'S TUESDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to [e-mail].
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY
KEEPING BILL: Bill Essayli will become acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, a spokesperson for the Justice Department confirmed. The move seems to follow the same playbook that the Trump administration has used to work around expiring appointments by Bondi.
If this sounds confusing to you, that's because Essayli has been the District's interim attorney since April when he was appointed by Bondi. Federal law says that appointment expires after 120 days, which would be this week. After that interim period, courts have the option to appoint someone else to serve until the vacancy is filled.
In this case, Fox News and the Los Angeles Times report that the judges decided not to act. This new appointment will seemingly give Essayli 210 more days.
The Trump administration has acted similarly in New Jersey and New York, an unconventional move to keep nominees in their temporary position. In New Jersey, they are challenging the move in court.
The U.S. Attorney's office referred all questions to the White House, which did not respond to comment. The Trump administration has yet to officially nominate Essayli for the position, which prevents him from getting an official nomination hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee. — Nicole Norman
IN OTHER NEWS
SETTLING UP: UCLA has agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle a lawsuit Jewish students and a professor filed against the school over pro-Palestinian encampments on campus during protests last year, our Eric He reports for POLITICO Pro subscribers.
The lawsuit, which was filed following weeks of upheaval as demonstrations against Israel's war against Hamas consumed the campus, alleged that university officials did not protect the plaintiffs from discrimination by protesters.
The students and professor claimed 'checkpoints' set up by protesters prevented them from accessing parts of campus. The proposed settlement, which still must be approved by a judge, comes months after the Trump administration filed a statement of interest in the case voicing support for the plaintiffs.
FUNDING FIGHT: Bonta and 22 other Democratic attorneys general and governors are suing the Trump administration over a bid to strip federal funds from Planned Parenthood clinics, our Rachel Bluth reports.
'We need to just call it what it is: punishment for Planned Parenthood's constitutionally protected advocacy for abortion,' Bonta said at a press conference Tuesday morning. 'The hypocrisy is really hard to ignore: a party that claims to be defenders of free speech only seem to care about it when it aligns with their own agenda.'
Congressional Republicans have wanted to cut funding to Planned Parenthood since Trump's first term. If they're successful, about 200 of the 600 clinics the nonprofit operates around the country could close, with over half of them in California.
'California is the most impacted state in the country,' said Jodi Hicks, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. 'It's important to have a California lens on this.'
WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY
— San Francisco has made it easier for residents to report concerns about homeless people through the city's app for non-emergency complaints. (San Francisco Chronicle)
— A San Jose-based company that makes chip design tools pleaded guilty to charges accusing it of supplying hardware and software to China's National University of Defense Technology. (Bloomberg)
AROUND THE STATE
— Declining demand for farmers' wine grapes have left some vineyards minimally cared for in the San Joaquin Valley, the state's leading producer of lower value wine grapes. (The Fresno Bee)
— Government budget cuts have forced a pullback of a temporary housing subsidy program aimed at tackling homelessness. (Los Angeles Times)
— San Diego's downtown, Bankers Hill, Hillcrest and North Park have had a homebuilding boost as the region pushes to accelerate residential development, a new analysis shows. (Voice of San Diego)
— compiled by Juliann Ventura