Newsom foe picked by Trump for key prosecutor job vows to 'dismantle' sanctuary state shields
Republican California Assemblyman Bill Essayli is pledging to "dismantle" his state's status as a popular sanctuary for illegal immigrants after President Donald Trump tapped him this week to head up a team of prosecutors for the nation's largest federal district court by population.
"I'm excited to get to work and to implement their vision and their mission for the Department of Justice," Essayli told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. "I think the first order of business is reassuring people and reinstilling trust into the Justice Department. I think for the last few years, it's been weaponized, has been politicized, and the President's made it clear that we're going to restore trust into our law enforcement agencies and into the Department of Justice."
Essayli, a lightning rod in California legislative politics who frequently spars with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, said his commitment is to "restore law and order" in his new post as U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. "We're going to get back to work," he said. "We're going to go after these transnational organizations, which the president designated as terrorist organizations."
"We're going to go after criminal illegal immigration," Essayli continued.
Setting himself up for a potential showdown in the coming months with Newsom, who "Trump-proofed" the state with a $50 million legal fund to protect illegal immigrants in the state, Essayli vowed to "dismantle the sanctuary state status that they've enjoyed here in California."
Brandon Richards, a spokesman for Newsom's office, told Fox News Digital in a previous statement that "none of this funding will be used to support immigration-related services for criminals. Period."
Additionally, Essayli said as U.S. attorney, his office will tackle public corruption, noting, "I don't think we've had robust public corruption cases and investigations. It's long overdue."
When asked if Newsom had reached out to him since his appointment, Essayli laughed.
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"No," he said. "We don't talk."
Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom's office for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Essayli has gone head-to-head with Newsom's administration throughout his Republican career in the state, criticizing the state over its handling of wildfire management, public safety, reparations, and most notably, parental rights in schools. It was not uncommon in the last several years to see Essayli at school board meetings voicing his opposition to policies that prohibited parental notification of their child's gender identity.
When asked how he would go about removing sanctuary state protections for illegal immigrants, Essayli responded he will be working "hand in hand" with the Trump Justice Department and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
"We're gonna put a plan together," he said. "That's not something I'm obviously prepared to discuss or signal at this point, but I assure you that something will be done, and when we do, it will be very well known in public."
Just hours before his appointment to be the next top federal prosecutor in the district that includes Los Angeles County, Essayli introduced Assembly Bill 844, which sought to reverse California's existing law that allows biological males to participate in girls' and women's sports teams corresponding to their gender identity. But the Assembly's Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism rejected AB 844 along party lines on Tuesday.
Essayli called the tolerance of trans girls in girls' sports "not just bad policy, it’s also a flagrant violation of Title IX and puts California schools at risk of losing billions in federal funding," during the committee hearing. "I believe California will come into compliance with Title IX, either through this legislative process or the court process."
He resigned from his post as assemblyman that evening to accept the federal position.
In a news release, the U.S. attorney's office said Essayli, born to two Lebanese immigrants, was sworn into the country's largest attorney’s office outside of Washington, D.C., on Wednesday morning. The office, with over 250 lawyers on staff, serves roughly 20 million residents across the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.
Essayli previously founded the law firm Essayli & Brown LLP in 2019 and worked as a federal prosecutor from 2014 to 2018 in the Los Angeles and Riverside offices. During his time as an assistant U.S. attorney, Essayli handled high-profile cases, including the 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack and a significant opioid prescription case. Prior to his federal role, he was a deputy district attorney in Riverside County and worked as an associate attorney at Paul Hastings LLP.
Essayli's nomination to U.S. attorney requires Senate confirmation, but the president has the authority to appoint someone to the position on an interim basis before Senate confirmation.