Los Alamitos City Council Votes To Opt Out Of Sanctuary Status

LOS ALAMITOS (CBSLA) — California may be a sanctuary state but one Orange County city wants to opt out.

Emotions exploded outside the Los Alamitos City Hall as the city council discussed the hot button issue Monday night.

Hundreds gathered outside the packed meeting as the first and only Orange County city to discuss leaving the sanctuary state status behind allowed citizens to take the floor.

Dozens lined up to speak their mind. Some argued that Senate Bill 54, designed to protect undocumented immigrants by limiting the cooperation between local police and ICE agents, is hurting law-abiding immigrants.

"We have the law of the land and that constitution says the federal government is in charge of immigration law, not the state of California," one woman said.

"We want people deported, simply because they're here illegally," another man said.

Others told the city council if Los Alamitos passes the ordinance that would exempt it from the state's new sanctuary law, families would suffer and taxpayers would have to pay legal expenses to fight it.

"You are subjecting the City of Los Alamitos, at taxpayers' expense, to lawsuits," one woman said.

"We are here to stand up to the Trump agenda. It starts in the city councils. It starts in these meetings that traditionally have no transparency," said Tim Phan of the Young Democrats.

It was a 4-1 vote Monday night. The City Council will vote again on the issue next month.