The California city of Los Alamitos voted against being a sanctuary city Monday night.
As the Orange County Register reports, the second-largest city in Orange County voted 4-1 in favor of a measure that seeks to exempt the community from state legislation that discourages interaction between local police and ICE agents.
The city legislators argued that the state law compelling them to support sanctuary cities is a violation of federal statues.
Mayor Troy Edgar said he hopes his city will provide a precedent for other communities in California. “As the mayor of Los Alamitos, we are not a sanctuary city.”
The new law states that the state law “may be in direct conflict with federal laws and the Constitution” and could also violate their oath of office, the Register reported.
The approved legislation reads that the council “finds that it is impossible to honor our oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” given the state’s sanctuary city law.
Los Alamitos is bucking California’s love of sanctuary cities but is in complete agreement with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his declared intention of fighting that state’s attempt to stymie federal immigration law and ICE authorities.
The Register says the council heard passionate arguments from concerned citizens on both sides of the issue before it voted to pass the anti-sanctuary city law late Monday night. Proponents of the law shouted “USA” and “America First.”