EXCLUSIVE: Democrat Law Blocking Police From Saving Trafficked Kids Is Getting Called Out

A Southern California city is suing Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta over the state’s sanctuary policies, arguing they are putting public safety at risk and tying the hands of local police.

Officials in El Cajon say those policies had real-world consequences when federal authorities warned the city that 52 children may have been victims of sex trafficking by illegal immigrants — but the state blocked local officials from acting on that information.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in San Diego County, seeks to overturn Senate Bill 54, a 2017 law that limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration agencies like ICE.

Mayor Eric Wells, a Republican backed by the America First Policy Institute, argues the law forces police into an impossible position — choosing between following state rules or enforcing federal law.

“Our officers are put in a situation every day where they’re breaking either federal law or state law,” Wells told The Daily Wire. “SB 54 is in direct conflict with federal law.”

Wells said the restrictions go even further, preventing officers from coordinating with federal agents or even asking basic questions about immigration status in many cases.

The clash came into sharp focus earlier this year. In February 2025, federal immigration authorities alerted El Cajon officials that dozens of unaccompanied children in the area could be victims of sex trafficking.

A city council member sought permission from the state Attorney General’s office to use that information to conduct welfare checks on the children.

The answer was no.

“Pursuing wellness checks of unaccompanied children alongside or based on information provided by federal immigration authorities may implicate conduct prohibited by SB 54,” Special Assistant Attorney General Jackie Gonzalez wrote in a letter obtained by The Daily Wire, adding that county social services — not local police working with federal agents — should handle such cases.

Wells blasted the response as a “moral failure.”

“I think it’s really important to understand how far this ideology goes,” he said. “They are so wedded to this anti-ICE ideology that when the question is, can we save children who are being sex trafficked, the answer is no. That’s shocking.”

Wells also tied the broader impact of illegal immigration policies to rising crime and drug-related deaths in his city of roughly 100,000 people.

“California used to be the greatest state in the nation,” he said. “Now it’s declined on so many fronts, and a lot of that comes from this idea that the state doesn’t care about enforcing the law.”

SB 54 bars state and local law enforcement agencies from using resources to assist in federal immigration enforcement, including sharing certain information with federal authorities.

The law has already survived a major legal challenge. During President Donald Trump’s first term, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld SB 54, ruling that the federal government cannot force states to participate in immigration enforcement.

“We have no doubt that SB 54 makes the jobs of federal immigration authorities more difficult,” the court wrote, but added that California has the right to decline cooperation.

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to take up the case, calling SB 54 the “centerpiece” of California’s immigration policy, but the justices declined to hear it.

Wells argues his lawsuit is different and could ultimately give individual cities more authority to decide how much they cooperate with federal agencies.

“I don’t know a law enforcement officer anywhere in California who wouldn’t want more tools to get bad guys off the street,” he said.

State officials have already signaled they will fight the lawsuit.

“El Cajon should prepare for another loss,” Bonta said in a statement. “There have been endless attempts to mislead the public about SB 54, but the truth is that anyone who commits a crime can be held accountable under California law.”

Wells fired back, accusing the attorney general of ignoring the real-world consequences of the policy.

“It’s so obviously clear he’s making things up,” Wells said. “I’ve lost a lot of respect for his ability to act honestly in this.”

Wells said the stakes go beyond a single lawsuit.

At its core, he argued, the case is about whether local communities can work with federal authorities to stop crime — or whether state policies will continue to stand in the way.