Thread: California passes "anti-Arizona" immigration bill

California passes "anti-Arizona" immigration bill - YouTube

Nation's first 'anti-Arizona' law likely headed to Gov. Jerry Brown's office

By Matt O'Brien
Contra Costa Timesdailydemocrat.com
Created: 07/06/2012 09:08:28 AM PDT

California's Legislature is poised to become the first in the nation to pass an "anti-Arizona" law instructing police to release illegal immigrants if they haven't committed serious crimes -- instead of handing them over to the federal government.

The law could put a Democratic state at odds with a Democratic president whose administration has counted on local-federal law enforcement partnerships to find and deport illegal immigrants with criminal records.

"We aren't usurping anything. It's a states' rights issue," said Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, the sponsor of the bill that on Thursday passed the state Senate 21-13.

California's push to the left on immigration policy comes less than two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down parts of Arizona's strict immigration law but upheld a key provision requiring Arizona police officers to check the immigration status of the people they stop and reasonably suspect are in the country illegally.

Ammiano's measure is also a reaction to a federal immigration enforcement program, Secure Communities, forced upon all of California's counties two years ago.

The Assembly approved the bill last year but must vote on it again in August after the summer recess. But the big question is if the bill, AB1081, will be signed or vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown, who hasn't taken a position on the legislation.

As attorney general, Brown signed the pact with the Obama administration allowing federal immigration agents through the fingerprints-sharing Secure Communities program to track down and pick up every deportable immigrant arrested by local police in the state. It has resulted in more than 7,500 deportations from the Bay Area since 2010.

Ammiano's bill parallels an effort by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, which has pushed back against the program.

Supervisors last year said the county would detain illegal immigrants only if the federal government paid for the cost to keep the inmates for an extra day or two to give U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials time to pick them up at the jail. ICE officials balked at the request, so now immigrants -- including those who have committed serious and violent felonies -- are released to the community once they finish their sentences.

Lori Pegg, acting Santa Clara County counsel, said Ammiano's proposed legislation "appears to be consistent" with the county's goal, which she said is "to make sure that we are not inappropriately detaining individuals solely on the basis of their immigration status."

Last year, the San Francisco Sheriff's Department said it would agree to detain illegal immigrants arrested for misdemeanors, but only if they have a prior felony or two misdemeanor convictions.

Virginia Kice, an ICE spokeswoman, said the agency wouldn't comment on California's pending legislation. But she defended the Secure Communities program, saying it has proved to be the most valuable tool in allowing the agency to focus on "criminal aliens" and those who repeatedly violate immigration law.

But critics of the program say it's netting far too many non-criminals.

Ammiano's "Trust Act" would prohibit police and sheriff's departments from holding immigrants if they are eligible for release from criminal custody unless they have been convicted of a serious or violent felony.

It also requires local agencies to "adopt a plan" to guard against racial profiling before complying with a federal immigration hold -- and also to guard against mistakenly detaining U.S. citizens.

Police chiefs in Oakland, Palo Alto and elsewhere have backed the bill, but sheriffs, who are responsible for county jails, have been less supportive. The Assembly website lists dozens of supporters -- including cities, school districts and numerous immigrant rights groups -- but just one opponent: the California State Sheriffs' Association.

The Senate vote this week fell on partisan lines -- Democrats for, Republicans against -- but one Democratic senator voted against the bill after speaking with sheriffs in his Central Valley district.

"Why would we ask a sheriff's deputy in any of the 58 counties to make a determination of what is a serious crime and what is not?" said state Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Shafter. "Sheriffs would be put in a difficult position."

Sheriffs also oppose the mandate requiring local agencies to guard against racial profiling and detaining U.S. citizens, said Curtis Hill, a former San Benito County sheriff and lobbyist for the sheriffs' association.

"That's problematic for us because profiling is so subjective," Hill said. "That sets up sheriffs and county general funds to get sued. We're going to get sued based on federal immigration policy."

The California bill is unlikely to conflict with federal law as Arizona's did because "even the federal government acknowledges these (immigration holds) are 'requests' ... so it's not as if they are refusing an order from the federal government," said Aarti Kohli, a senior fellow at UC Berkeley's Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy.

The bill flexes power that local and state governments already have, Kohli said.

Another immigration policy expert noted the California bill initially was a reaction to Secure Communities but "has been reshaped as an antidote" to Arizona's law.

"The Trust Act shows that different states want different policies in immigration enforcement," said Kevin Johnson, dean of the UC Davis School of Law. "It seems to me that we will have skirmishes like this until there is comprehensive national immigration reform."

Staff writers Josh Richman and Tracy Seipel contributed to this report.

The continued detention on an immigration hold would not violate any federal, state or local law -- or any local policy.
It also would require any local government detaining a person on an immigration hold to adopt a plan guarding against:
Detaining a U.S. citizen
Racial profiling
Discouraging crime victims and witnesses from reporting crimes.

Nation's first 'anti-Arizona' law likely headed to Gov. Jerry Brown's office - Daily Democrat Online

Nation
Have Some Trust: California to Pass Anti-Arizona Immigration Bill
California's new Trust Act looks to lower the number of deportations in the state.
By Amy Friedman | July 8, 2012 | 3

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst


California is taking a stand on immigration – and it doesn’t exactly jive with a recent ruling by the Supreme Court on the issue. Last week, the California State Senate passed the TRUST Act, a move that is in direct contrast to the high court decision upholding a controversial provision of Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration law requiring police to check the status of people they stop for another reason, if they suspect the person is undocumented. This new bill, also being called the “Anti-Arizona” bill, would lower the number of deportations in the wake of the commission of minor crimes. The TRUST Act will now go to the California state assembly and will most likely pass.

The law would mean that, contrary to what goes on now, evidence of against an immigrant could only be passed on to federal officials after a violent or serious felony. Currently, getting pulled over for merely pausing at a stop sign could mean your fingerprints get sent straight to the feds.

(PHOTOS: Behind the Cover: America’s Undocumented Immigrants)

“Today’s vote signals to the nation that California cannot afford to be another Arizona,” Tom Ammiano, a Democratic Assemblyman who introduced the bill told reporters in a statement after the legislation passed in the Senate on Thursday. “The bill also limits unjust and onerous detentions…of community members who do not pose a threat to public safety.”

While a majority of legislators seem to support the measure, the California Sheriff’s Organization does not, saying that it would place their officers in the awkward position of choosing whether to follow federal or state law.

According to those who support the bill, state cooperation with Secure Communities—the program that currently requires fingerprints to be sent to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency—keeps many immigrants from reporting crimes even when they are the victim (in cases like domestic abuse) for fear that they will be deported.

The law would be a landmark in immigration reform legislation as California has an estimated 2.5 million undocumented immigrants—the largest population in America.


Read more: Have Some Trust: California to Pass Anti-Arizona Immigration Bill | NewsFeed | TIME.com

"Lori Pegg, acting Santa Clara County counsel, said Ammiano's proposed legislation "appears to be consistent" with the county's goal, which she said is "to make sure that we are not inappropriately detaining individuals solely on the basis of their immigration status."


If their immigration status is illegal then they should be deported."

But critics of the program say it's netting far too many non-criminals."

Non-criminal criminals. Illegal, get it? Illegal!! DEPORT the law-breakers! There are no excuses, no exceptions. They must go!

http://www.alipac.us/f12/147-629-dep...2012-a-260300/

CA - 55,735
First and only state to deport more than 50,000

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

http://www.alipac.us/f12/147-629-dep...2012-a-260300/

CA - 55,735
First and only state to deport more than 50,000

What point are you attempting to make? 50,000 is nothing compared to the huge number of illegals in California. Isn't there somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 million illegals in California? I know the state has more than any other state does.

We need to know when the CA Assembly is scheduled to vote on this measure?

W

Secure Communities is under attack by cities, counties and other states too.

http://www.alipac.us/f12/d-c-passes-...rogram-260803/

http://www.alipac.us/f12/obama-polic...hicago-260807/

http://www.alipac.us/f12/secure-comm...s-have-260799/

RELATED

http://www.alipac.us/f12/sanctuary-c...action-260827/

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California governor vetoes "Anti-Arizona" immigration bill

@ http://www.alipac.us/f12/ca-gov-brow...st-act-264664/