There are a wide variety of non-partisan elected offices in this country. For the most part, these offices are ones that don’t make laws, but institute policy, e.g. school boards, water and sewer districts, sheriffs, county clerks, etc.

Generally, officials serving on these boards get in trouble when they decide to dabble in areas that really aren’t part of their jobs, e.g. school boards commenting on laws not related to education and not affecting people in their geographic area. These forays into riling up political resentments can create unintended consequences – as some in San Diego are finding out.

Today, Kerry Pickett at the Washington Times turns up a bit of hilarity that should be spread far and wide – and leave a lot of California politicians with eggs on their faces. Here’s section 834b of the California Penal Code:

(a) Every law enforcement agency in California shall fully cooperate with the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding any person who is arrested if he or she is suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws. (b) With respect to any such person who is arrested, and suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws, every law enforcement agency shall do the following: (1) Attempt to verify the legal status of such person as a citizen of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted as a permanent resident, an alien lawfully admitted for a temporary period of time or as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of immigration laws. The verification process may include, but shall not be limited to, questioning the person regarding his or her date and place of birth, and entry into the United States, and demanding documentation to indicate his or her legal status. (2) Notify the person of his or her apparent status as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws and inform him or her that, apart from any criminal justice proceedings, he or she must either obtain legal status or leave the United States. (3) Notify the Attorney General of California and the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service of the apparent illegal status and provide any additional information that may be requested by any other public entity. (c) Any legislative, administrative, or other action by a city, county, or other legally authorized local governmental entity with jurisdictional boundaries, or by a law enforcement agency, to prevent or limit the cooperation required by subdivision (a) is expressly prohibited.

That’s not dissimilar to the Arizona law that has a vocal minority’s panties in a bundle – and it’s already the law of the land in California. Of course, that’s not saying that the law is currently being enforced – it certainly isn’t in “sanctuary” cities like San Francisco.

The idea that it is somehow “outrageous” for a state to try to help enforce a federal law by turning over criminals to the federal government is novel. Bank robbery is a federal crime (banks are insured by the federal government), but you don’t see the local cops declining to show up and arrest robbers when the alarms are tripped.