California Republicans fight the sanctuary state

If you're looking for Trump voters in California, look for the oil wells or the farm crops. And when you see both in the same field, you're probably in Kern, the biggest Republican county in the state.

Sitting around a table at a mini-mall in the county seat of Bakersfield, a couple of old friends complain about "illegals." They're thrilled that the U.S. president is fulfilling his promise to crack down on them. 

There's too many people up there that are too liberal that are willing to give our country away or our state away.- Ron Reece, Bakersfield resident

"You don't let people invade your country!" says Ron Reece.

"It's whoever wants what for free gets it," says George Henderson. "I earned mine, let them earn theirs!"

Since Trump signed an executive order tightening border security, the number of illegal immigrant arrests is up 38 per cent over the same period last year, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Reece, a former cop, says illegal immigrants who commit crimes have been coddled by state politicians in the capital, Sacramento. 

"There's too many people up there that are too liberal that are willing to give our country away or our state away," Reece says.

Exhibit A, he says, is a bill that's set to make California the nation's first sanctuary state. The law would forbid police from investigating, detaining or arresting people for immigration enforcement purposes.

Trump also signed an executive order that would cut federal funding to so-called sanctuary cities, but a U.S district judge in northern California imposed a nationwide injunction against it.

Sal Tinajero, a city council member in Santa Ana, 72 kilometres south of L.A., says if Trump wants to deport California's estimated 2.4 million illegal immigrants, he's going to have to "find them himself."

But Santa Ana gets about a fifth of its money from Washington. And according to Tinajero, since it became a sanctuary city in January, one form of federal funding has already been cut.

"We have a jail here that houses about 120 ICE detainees. So all of a sudden two weeks ago we got a notification that they're no longer going to use our beds. Those are the kind of funds he can take away," Tinajero says.

Becoming part of a sanctuary state, he says, means Santa Ana won't have to face down the feds alone.

"It is a great, great protection for us smaller cities because we then know that we're all in this together," Tinajero says.

World 'full of terrorists'

But some Trump-supporting communities say it's unfair that their local approach to law enforcement will be overridden by the state, and they're pushing back. 

"We're not looking for a fight with the federal government," says Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood. 

In April, Youngblood pushed for a resolution declaring Kern a "law and order" county, rather than a "sanctuary" county. 

"If we don't work with our federal government, some of these criminal immigrants that are here illegally will be released back in our community and create more victims," Youngblood says. "We live in a very serious world full of terrorists who want to come in and destroy us. And people don't want us to have a secure border.... This isn't about race, it's about safety."

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However, not everyone is clear what sanctuary actually entails. A common misconception is that it means sanctuary from prosecution. 

"If you're a criminal, you shouldn't be walking in the streets," says Bakersfield resident Evelyn Nyitray. "And no one should be able to say 'Oh it's OK because he's an illegal.'"

Retiree Dave Smith agrees.

"It's to a point now where immigrants in a sanctuary city or sanctuary state have more rights than the citizens do," Smith says.

'They could just take me'

Advocates for the sanctuary state say it's about more than just signaling tolerance. It's about protecting undocumented workers from being persecuted by police, and encouraging them to co-operate with authorities without fear of being deported. 

Still, the prospect is little comfort to Citlally Figueroa, whose family immigrated illegally from Mexico when she was two.

"The government has the information so they can essentially find us," says the 24-year-old who will graduate university in June. "If ICE has a warrant for my neighbour, they can come and take him, and if I'm there, they could just take me. It's really hard for me because I tried really hard and" — she pauses to wipe away tears — "I thought maybe it would pay off."

And even though San Jose is essentially a sanctuary city in what could soon be a sanctuary state, immigration lawyer Diana Morales says it's unclear what exactly that means.

"Because we don't know how executive orders and the memorandums are going to be implemented, we are not totally sure how sanctuary cities are going to work," says Morales, of the Services, Immigration Rights and Education Network (SIREN). "We're going to protect you, but protect you from what? We don't know for sure what that protection will entail."

Country is 'so fragmented'

The uncertainty is affecting communities on both sides of the divide.

In Kern, officials like County Supervisor David Crouch say they can't win. Trump has signaled his intention to go after jurisdictions that don't co-operate with federal immigration. But if California's sanctuary bill passes, the state could cut Kern's funding over that co-operation.

"Now we will have the federal government saying one thing with regard to this, and we'll have the state government saying an entirely other thing," Couch says. "So what would you do?"

With more than a dozen states contemplating sanctuary state measures, and nearly twice as many having introduced bills to ban them, the conflict may ultimately be decided not by politicians but by judges, says USC immigration law professor Jean Reisz. She says the establishment of a sanctuary state is significant because states' rights are much more powerfully enshrined in the Constitution than those of cities. 

"The federal government can't withhold funds to coerce a state into carrying out the federal laws," Reisz says.

But state's rights are a double-edged sword: they can also be used to curtail sanctuary cities. In Texas, the governor recently signed a bill that would prohibit them. Soon, any Texas law enforcement official who doesn't co-operate with federal immigration could go to jail. Opponents have filed a federal suit challenging the law. 

And they have a surprising ally: Youngblood.

"The way California has put sheriffs in the middle, or the way Texas is putting sheriffs in the middle, is wrong," says Youngblood, president of the California State Sheriffs' Association. "If you're in Texas and you're not co-operating with ICE, you're in jeopardy. In California, if you are, you're in jeopardy. It just doesn't make logical sense that our country is so fragmented."