Elizabeth Jo

But I think one of the things that is often confusing is there are many terms in the immigration debate.

And the biggest one is probably the idea of a sanctuary jurisdiction.

And California is, as a matter of state law, a sanctuary state.

So could you explain what being a sanctuary state means in practical terms?

So practically speaking, that sounds like that means that, you know, of course, federal agents can come in and enforce the federal law.

But, you know, your local police agency doesn't have to really lift a finger to aid that if they don't wish to.

Is that right?

Yeah, so let me go back for a moment.

You know, this idea of the Tenth Amendment means, as the Supreme Court's interpreted, that, you know, the federal government can't, you've said the word, conscript and force the states to do the federal government's bidding.

And so there's a pretty clear line in the constitutional sand about what states aren't supposed to be told what to do, right?

But I think the question that folks have is, well, on the one hand, you know, you've said that states don't have to help in immigration enforcement.

But the Justice Department has also said that, you know, look, if state or local officials interfere with federal immigration enforcement, they could be charged with obstruction.

So where do you see that line between states legally declining to help, but also maybe not interfering with immigration enforcement?

Right.

And what about the reverse scenario?

You know, after ICE agents fatally shot Rene Good and Alex Pretty in Minneapolis, you know, Minnesota officials said that the federal government was actually preventing them from conducting their own state and local criminal investigations, doing basic things like preserving evidence.

So how should that kind of how should we understand that kind of state and federal conflict?

And, you know, how is the state of California preparing for that potential scenario?

Yeah, I just want to step back for a moment and just tie these things together.

You know, you've mentioned that the federal government can't commandeer or force the states to do things.