Overview
- El Cajon filed a lawsuit in San Diego County Superior Court against Attorney General Rob Bonta, targeting SB 54 and other state policies that limit local help to federal immigration agents.
- Mayor Bill Wells and the America First Policy Institute say the rules force officers to choose between state directives and federal duties, and they argue several California policies encourage people without legal status to live in the state.
- Bonta’s office called SB 54 a public‑safety measure that helps victims and witnesses work with police, noting the law has been upheld repeatedly, including a 2019 Ninth Circuit ruling that the Supreme Court left in place.
- The filing follows earlier friction between El Cajon and the state, including a Bonta lawsuit over the city’s license‑plate data sharing and a dispute after DHS sought local welfare checks on children that the state said SB 54 barred.
- The suit could revive national fights over local‑federal cooperation, yet it faces long‑standing precedent favoring California’s limits, and activists in the city have already voiced opposition to the move.