Mayor wants Huntington Beach to be declared a 'non-sanctuary city'

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- The mayor of Huntington Beach says he wants the city to be declared a "non-sanctuary city."

Mayor Pat Burns says it will help law enforcement follow federal immigration protocols under the new Trump administration.

The City Council is expected to address this at a meeting Tuesday evening.

President Donald Trump's executive order tackling the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border has the full support of Burns.

Burns wants the city to back any efforts made by the Trump administration to enforce federal immigration law.

"We need every law enforcement effort, whenever called upon, whether it be fighting terrorists, whether it be fighting purse snatchers, or whatever it is, we have to have every law enforcement tool to best serve our citizens," Burns said.

He introduced a resolution to the City Council that would declare the city of Huntington Beach a "non-sanctuary city for illegal immigration for the prevention of crime."

"It's not meaning that our police are going to go out and look for, patrol and pull over people for being illegal," Burns said. "That's not our capacity. That's a federal job."

The mayor believes the state's sanctuary law limits the cooperation between state and local law enforcement with federal immigration authorities.

"It's taking out a link of a chain that we can't afford," Burns said. "We're weakening the law enforcement efforts to the city to make it the safest place."

Some residents like Jacquelyn Leyva say the resolution is divisive.

"I fully do not support Huntington Beach being a 'non-sanctuary city,'" Leyva said. "It really disappoints me because we have separation of federal versus state laws for this reason because we need to protect our citizens within California and especially within Huntington Beach."

Burns disagrees.

He said his top priority is keeping residents safe.

"It's putting Huntington Beach first," he said. "It's nothing to fight the state on. If it does, so be it, but it's really to serve Huntington Beach."

All seven elected members of the City Council are conservative, so the resolution is expected to pass during Tuesday's meeting.