LOS ANGELES – California lawmakers on Saturday sent a bill to the governor’s desk that would place statewide limits on local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities in a measure that would create a potent counterbalance to the Trump administration’s push against undocumented immigrants.
In the early morning hours of Saturday, the state Senate passed SB54 by a vote of 27 to 11, sending the bill to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has said he would sign it. The state Assembly approved the measure on Friday by a 51-26 vote.
If Brown signs SB54 into law, California would become the largest jurisdiction to punch back against the Trump administration’s anti-sanctuary measures. Oregon passed a law prohibiting the use of state and local resources to enforce federal immigration law in 1987, making it the first so-called sanctuary state.
“I introduced SB 54 to protect our state and local police from having to arrest honest, hardworking mothers, fathers and students instead of carrying out the duties that protect all of us,” said Senator Kevin de León, who introduced the bill. “Our undocumented neighbors will be able to interact with local law enforcement to report crimes and help in prosecutions without fear of deportation – and that will make our communities safer.”
Under Senate Bill 54, local police would be prohibited from asking people about their immigration status, and officers would be barred from being deputized as immigration agents. It also would bar US Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents from interviewing people in local and state jails without the inmate’s written agreement in advance.
The bill also prohibits federal immigration officials from maintaining permanent offices in California jails. However, the legislation was a watered down version of the bill De León introduced in December after negotiations due to concerns from law enforcement and Brown.
The bill was opposed by the California State Sheriffs’ Association – sheriffs are responsible for most jail operations – and for a time by the California Police Chiefs Association. But the police chiefs group dropped its opposition after amendments were added that eased some of the restrictions.
Pablo Alvarado, executive director of National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said that while the bill that passed was scaled back from the original it is a step in the right direction.
“Many of the provisions included in the original version bill will one day become law, but in the meantime, the compromise reached between Senator de León and Governor Brown reflects much-needed progress,” Alvarado said in a statement.
“The need for this bill was already great when it was introduced 10 months ago,” said California Assemblymember Rob Bonta. “In our communities, we have children who don’t know if their parents are coming home at the end of the day. In our communities, we have families who don’t want to be torn apart.”.
The Senate vote on the California Values Act came on one day after a federal judge in Chicago blocked the US Department of Justice from requiring cities to comply with new federal grant requirements aimed at penalizing so-called sanctuary cities. US District Judge Harry Leinenweber said a lawsuit filed by the city of Chicago challenging the Justice Department’s new rules was likely to succeed in having the rules declared unconstitutional.
Under the bill passed Saturday, local police are barred from from notifying ICE that they are holding a suspect or transferring a detainee to ICE custody unless that person has been convicted of a felony under California law, has been jailed for a felony within the past 15 years, or has served time in the previous five years for a misdemeanor that could have been charged as felony. Local police also can inform ICE of individuals when a judge has ruled there is probable cause to hold that person for a violent felony.
Opponents of the bill accused supporters of misrepresenting local police’s role in immigration enforcement and predicted that instead of easing immigrant worries about ICE raids, it would increase them.
Assemblymember James Gallagher said SB 54 would hinder local police from stopping gangs like MS-13 who bring drugs and other crimes to immigrant communities.
“This builds a wall between local government and federal partners and makes our communities less safe,” Gallagher said. “This legislation is only a sanctuary for criminals like the one who killed Kate Steinle.”
He was referring to the case of 32-year-old Kate Steinle, who was fatally shot on a pier in San Francisco by an undocumented immigrant who had a felony record and had been deported five times.
Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham said passing SB 54 would increase raids in immigrant communities because ICE would be limited to what it can do inside jails.
“Jails are not a place people get educated, not a place people get healed or seek justice,” Cunningham said. “It protects suspected criminals from deportation at the expense of law abiding residents, including their communities.”
But supporters of the bill responded that such arguments overlook the rights of people in jail. Assemblymember Mark Stone, calling himself offended at the notion that everybody in jail is a convicted criminal, noted that 60% or more are pending trial.
“They have not yet been on trial and yet they remain in jail,” Stone said. “To characterize everybody in jail and put them through this process is in violation of the constitution.”
SB 54 also prohibits local police and sheriffs from making arrests on civil immigration warrants, detaining people on the basis of immigration holds, or sharing private information about people – including addresses – with ICE.
