Mayor Wants Costa Mesa to be a 'Rule of Law City'

BY ELLYN PAK
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
MAY 17, 2010

COSTA MESA – Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor wants the public to know his city does not harbor illegal immigrants by officially declaring it a "Rule of Law City."

Mansoor, known for his staunch stance on illegal immigration, will ask his fellow council members Tuesday to adopt a strict resolution declaring Costa Mesa as a city that does not welcome any illegal immigration.

"It's going to be a resolution stating that Costa Mesa is not a sanctuary city and it is in fact a rule-of-law city when it comes to upholding our immigration laws," Mansoor said.

"There are several cities that have stated they are sanctuary cities and I think that's very unfortunate.

Americans shouldn't be afraid to state that we believe that upholding our immigration laws is the right thing to do. We have absolute complete respect for legal immigration."

The mayor propelled himself and the city into the forefront of the illegal immigration debate in 2005 when he proposed allowing the city's police officers to enforce federal immigration laws on a local level.

Ultimately, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was placed at the city jail to check immigration statuses.

The resolution will set the tone for discussions on cracking down on illegal immigration in the city, Mansoor said. Mansoor, who is running for state assembly, said that Arizona's new anti-illegal immigration law didn't play a part in his proposal and that action in his city is long overdue.

During a press conference in April, Mansoor announced that he sought more stringent policies, from requiring all Costa Mesa businesses to verify workers' immigration statuses to allowing all police officers to check legal status and valid identification of unlicensed drivers, especially when ICE agents are not present at the jail.

Last year, there were 2,000 incidents related to unlicensed drivers; 1,838 citations were issued and 121 people were arrested, Mansoor said.

Of those 121 arrested, 72 were detained by ICE.

Mansoor questioned why the legal statuses of those getting police citations were not verified.

The anti-illegal immigration debate remain ferocious in Orange County, where many of its cities have worked in past years to move day laborers off their streets and impose more stringent policies against all illegal immigrants.

Local activists have fought back with lawsuits and threats of litigation alleging violation of basic civil rights.

Earlier this month, Santa Ana officials publicly condemned Arizona's law, calling it unconstitutional and encouraging discrimination.

"I want to bring something forward in the next couple of months to start looking at some new policies," Mansoor said.

"No doubt, we're busy with a lot of things. I'm trying to approach it in a manner that's not going to overburden anyone. I've done a lot of research on my own. And I'm going to bring it forward in a manner that's doable."

Contact the writer: 714-796-7956 or epak@ocregister.com

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