El Cajon Sues Rob Bonta Over SB 54, Citing 110,000-Resident City's Child Welfare Checks
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 12
El Cajon Sues Rob Bonta Over SB 54, Citing 110,000-Resident City's Child Welfare Checks
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 12
El Cajon filed suit in San Diego County against California Attorney General Rob Bonta, arguing SB 54 blocked its police from checking on children flagged by DHS as possibly living in unsafe, unsupervised conditions.
The city says the attorney general’s office told it welfare checks could violate California’s sanctuary law if they exposed addresses of people in the country illegally, prompting the legal challenge.
America First Policy Institute filed the case for El Cajon, contending California’s broader sanctuary regime — including licenses, tuition and benefits — conflicts with federal law and the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.
Bonta has called the lawsuit baseless and said El Cajon should expect another loss, after Huntington Beach unsuccessfully challenged California sanctuary policies in federal court last year.
Mayor Bill Wells said the 110,000-resident border city is prepared to pursue the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, framing it as a test of whether state or federal law prevails.
Could El Cajon's legal challenge dismantle sanctuary city policies across the United States?
Does severing ties with federal immigration agents truly make a city safer for all its residents?
When federal and state laws clash, who is responsible for protecting vulnerable children?