A federal judge has dismissed Huntington Beach’s lawsuit against the state’s landmark sanctuary law, which limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
Judge Sunshine S. Sykes, of the US District Court for the Central District of California, ruled Dec. 1 that the city lacked standing to challenge the law in federal court. Sykes invoked a Ninth Circuit precedent which held that a political subdivision, including charter cities such as Huntington Beach, do not have legal footing to raise federal constitutional claims against its own state’s statutes.
Huntington Beach sued the state in January over the California Values Act, or SB54; the City Council also declaring Huntington Beach a non-sanctuary city.
The 2017 California law placed restrictions on the use of state and local resources to assist federal immigration enforcement. The city’s attorneys argued in their filing that the policy “directly conflicts with U.S. federal immigration, criminal, and civil rights laws.”
The U.S. Justice Department lent support to Huntington Beach, filing a statement of interest on its behalf and calling the California Values Act unconstitutional.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a motion in June to dismiss the lawsuit, contending that the city did not have standing to “relitigate settled law in a misguided attempt to divert its limited resources to federal immigration enforcement.”
“The court has dismissed Huntington Beach’s meritless lawsuit challenging CA’s pro-public safety, pro-trust law, which limits the use of state and local resources in federal immigration enforcement,” Bonta wrote on the social media platform X following the federal court’s decision. “We’re pleased with this decision that ensures our law enforcement can continue protecting public safety.”
The city attorney’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning the city could sue again.
This was not the first time Huntington Beach has lost a legal battle over the California Values Act. The city and the Trump Administration both unsuccessfully challenged the law in 2018, the year it went into effect.