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Officials from across California meet with Trump on sanctuary-state law

City and county officials from across the state who oppose California’s sanctuary-state law sat down with President Donald Trump on May 16 to voice their objections to the law, and they got a pep talk from the president who slammed the state for failing to crack down on illegal immigration.

The officials, including San Diego County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar and Escondido Mayor Sam Abed, hailed from counties and cities that have taken stances against the law, some by joining or filing briefs in support of a Trump administration lawsuit challenging it.

“Each of you has bravely resisted California’s deadly and unconstitutional sanctuary state laws,” Trump told the group gathered in Washington, D.C. “You’ve gone through a lot, too, although it’s becoming quite popular what you’re doing. A law that forces the release of illegal immigrant criminals, drug dealers, gang members and violent predators into your communities.

“California’s law provides safe harbor to some of the most vicious and violent offenders on Earth, like MS-13 gang members putting innocent men, women and children at the mercy of sadistic criminals,” Trump said.

The president listened as each of the officials attending the meeting praised the work his administration is doing to address illegal immigration and discussed their municipalities’ efforts to challenge the sanctuary state law.

“The fact that we have this unsecured border is putting all of us at risk because we know that terrorists are coming in,” San Juan Capistrano City Councilwoman Pam Patterson said.

Los Alamitos Mayor Troy Edgar, whose city’s move to officially oppose the law sparked other conservative-leaning cities and municipalities to do the same, also hailed Trump’s efforts and went so far as to ask for help fending off a lawsuit by the ACLU.

Trump assured Edgar that “we’re with you 100 percent” and said “if it’s at all possible” he would like to help the city fight the lawsuit.

Responding to the meeting, Gov. Jerry Brown wrote on his Twitter page that Trump “is lying on immigration, lying about crime and lying about the laws of CA. Flying in a dozen Republican politicians to flatter him and praise his reckless policies changes nothing. We, the citizens of the fifth largest economy in the world, are not impressed.”

  

— City News Service