This is in response to a sanctuary state bill that would do everything possible to protect illegal alien criminals from immigration authorities in California. It isn't really news anymore. We're probably a few years away from Dems running an illegal alien for Governor of California, now that illegal aliens have become a key Dem demographic in identity politics (rather than just voting through identity theft). If they can be Muslim illegal aliens, that's even better.
But here's one rationalization from a law professor.
Former state Supreme Court judge Cruz Reynoso, who’s the son of Mexican immigrants and a professor of law at UC Davis.
“It’s up to the federal government to enforce federal laws and the state doesn’t need to cooperate with the federal government,” he said.
States don't need to cooperate with the federal government. The federal government didn't have to enforce federal law, under Obama. States weren't allowed to enforce it under Obama, either. The Federal government was only able to partly enforce immigration laws due to a Supreme Court decision. And California is within its rights to resist immigration enforcemnent.
This isn't Federalism. It's a network of double standards whose common denominator is open borders.
With a Republican in the White House, California secedes from any Federal laws it doesn't like.