Trump adviser Stephen Miller partners with SoCal city in bold bid to overturn California ‘sanctuary state’ law 

A law firm headed by top Trump administration advisor Stephen Miller has filed an appeal contesting California’s “sanctuary state” status on behalf of Huntington Beach and top officials like gubernatorial hopeful Chad Bianco.

The firm, America First Legal, argues that the dismissal of a lawsuit seeking to strike down a 2017 law banning local law enforcement from working with federal immigration officials should be overturned.

The AFL says the district court judge who last year denied the the firm’s initial challenge, which had been backed by the Justice Department and former Attorney General Pam Bondi, “incorrectly applied the ‘South Lake Tahoe’ doctrine” — a rule that prevents local governments from challenging the constitutionality of state laws in federal court.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

The first Trump administration filed a similar challenge, which was struck down in 2018.

District Court Judge John Mendez, a George W. Bush appointee, denied that challenge because he believed the law did not impede federal immigration officials. “Refusing to help is not the same as impeding,” he said in his ruling.

The AFL, founded by Miller in 2021, told The Post that the dismissal of the challenge puts law enforcement officers in a bind.

“California has put its own law enforcement officers in an impossible position: violate state law, or violate federal law,” AFL Senior Counsel James Rogers said.

“A state government targeted its own officers for following federal law, and then a district court said those officers had no right to even walk into a courthouse to challenge it. That is an outrage,” he added.

California is home to 10.9 million migrants, and in 2023 had about 2.25 million undocumented migrants, according to Pew Research Center data. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been active in the state since Trump’s second term began, with local politicians hostile to their presence.

Democrat gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer, who is running against Riverside County Sheriff Bianco, compared ICE to a criminal organization that he would protect Californians from. ICE called him out on the comments, saying: “Tom Steyer, ICE is not a political football.”

AFL is hoping its challenge can renwew cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials.

The firm cites the “flawed” South Lake Tahoe doctrine — which reinforces that cities are agents of the state — saying it strips cities like Huntington Beach of their rights to protect their community.

The AFL also cited the dilemma the “sanctuary state” law places on officers “for disobeying California law or [exhibiting] potential federal criminal liability for ‘shielding and harboring’ aliens in violation of federal statutes.”

The firm believes the case is “about the rule of law.”

“It’s about whether law enforcement officers are allowed to protect their communities and whether radical judges can use flimsy, judge-made law to protect blue states from the consequences of their own illegal
behavior,” AFL Counsel Ryan Giannetti told The Post.