SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The city of El Cajon has a little more than 100,000 residents and is considered one of the most diverse in San Diego County.

Soon, it could be among of handful of California municipalities to support mass deportations.

On Tuesday night, the El Cajon City Council considered a motion to back mass deportations promised by the incoming Trump administration.

The state of California as well as many of its local governments, such as the city of Los Angeles and San Diego County, have passed resolutions denying any help and support for federal agencies involved in deportations.

When speakers opposed the proposed the idea out of concerns it would make migrants “pariahs and targets of hate,” the El Cajon City Council temporarily withdrew support of the resolution as it was written.

Migrant advocates like Pedro Rios say such a motion will turn migrants into “outcasts.”

“The way the language was presented in the resolution, it suggests that people should be scared of immigrants because they are criminals,” Rios said. “It would target them by other members of the community who believe immigrants are causing harm and need to be sanctioned by the city of El Cajon.”

The resolution, which declares the City of El Cajon’s “intent to assist federal immigration authorities,” says it will ensure residents are protected from “individuals engaged in serious criminal activities, including gang involvement, human trafficking, and drug distribution.”

It also cites a report from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, that said the agency has released into the U.S. thousands of undocumented individuals who have been “convicted of or charged with violent crimes, including assault, sexual assault, homicide, and human trafficking.”

Rios spoke out against the resolution at the council meeting along with about a dozen other speakers, including one a man who said he worried police officers would “pick him up simply because of his dark skin.”

“Our police officers are not trained to be federal officers,” said the unidentified man.

El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells insists the motion was misconstrued and misunderstood.

“This is not about taking our police force and turning them into Border Patrol agents, this is about cooperating with the federal government and following the law,” he said. “The intention is not to take our police department and have them rounding people up, that’s not the intention at all.”

Wells stressed the motion is a way to “stay compliant with federal law.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has said in the past that California municipalities don’t have to participate in mass deportations because State Senate Bill 54, which became law in 2018, limits the use of local police and sheriff’s departments in investigating, detaining or arresting people for civil immigration violations, among other actions.

Wells disagrees with Bonta.

“The way we look at it is that the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution says federal law should supersede state law.”

Three out of the four council members, Gary Kendrick, Michelle Metschel and Steve Goble went on record saying they had concerns with the way the motion was written.

“I think it’s important that we really work hard to safeguard everybody’s rights,” Kendrick said. “Our immigrant community is very much a part of the fabric of our society, and I don’t want to tear out that fabric.”

In the end, the motion was tabled and all agreed it should be rewritten.

A new resolution will be debated and voted upon during a future city council meeting.