SACROMENTO – California lawmakers have announced several bills to protect immigrants in states targeted by President Trump’s aggressive new policies, including federal enforcement raids at schools, hospitals and religious buildings.
Members of the influential California Latinx Legislative Caucus, made up of 35 Democrats, have announced proposals to protect undocumented immigrants as one of the top priorities for upcoming sessions.
“Unfortunately, it’s a shame at the national level that we see intentional efforts to keep the economy crashing, forced communities and worsening Latino communities. These bills are efforts to combat all of that.”
The legislative package included Mia Bonta (D-Alameda) Congressional Bill 1261.
In March, the Trump administration ended its federal contract and provided legal representatives to nearly 26,000 immigrant children who entered the country without parents or guardians. The decision criticized immigration lawyers. He said he would leave the kids behind. Many of them are either reading or speaking English, too young, too young to read or speak, or vulnerable to rapid deportation.
Last week a federal judge in Northern California ordered the Trump administration to temporarily restore legal funds for immigrant children in immigrant courts.
Another bill by Gonzalez’s SB 48 expands existing laws and requires school staff to deny federal immigration officials access to school records and school grounds without a judicial warrant. It also prevents local law enforcement from working with US immigrants and customs enforcement officers near the school’s premises.
“The resources and spaces of California schools should be dedicated to educating young minds and not used to tear families,” Gonzalez said, adding that immigration behavior around schools has a chilling effect on school attendance.
The law proposed by Senator Sasha Renée Peréz (D-Alhambra) of SB 98 requires immigration officers to notify students, staff and parents to the school or university when they are on campus.
“This bill will give our community the security they deserve while maintaining the state’s commitment to schools being a safe place,” René Perez said.
Other laws proposed to protect immigrants include:
SB 81, hosted by Senator Jesse Arreguín (D-Berkeley), requires health care providers to deny ice access to non-public spheres and to disclose patient immigration status without a warrant. Day care facilities, places of worship, clinics. SB635, sponsored by Sen. María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), SB 635 maintains the issuer of the street vendor permit requesting fingerprints and asking applicants about immigration status or criminal history. Civil Rights is when interacting with law enforcement at work and notifying an employee’s emergency contact if he is arrested or detained.
The Trump administration said in January that it would allow immigration enforcement to arrest “sensitive places” such as schools, places of worship, hospitals and sites protected from ice for the past 30 years.
“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in American schools and churches to avoid arrests. The Trump administration will not tie our brave law enforcement hands, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement in January announcing the policy changes.
Aside from issues related to immigration, the package of laws supported by the Latinx Caucus included a bill to prevent silicosis, a permanent lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust in stone workplaces, through worker education and safety regulations.
SB 20 sponsor Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-Panorama City), said 98% of people diagnosed with silicosis since 2019 are Latino and virtually all male.
The Caucus also reaffirmed its commitment to guarantee 15 million low-income Californians and maintain funding for Medi-Cal, the state’s healthcare program, which has been estimated at over billions since last summer. Gov. Gavin Newsom last month asked Congress to approve an additional $2.8 billion by June, supporting a program that began registering with immigrants regardless of their residence status.
The rising costs of the program were not to blame immigrants and the Latino community, Gonzalez said at a press conference. Instead, lawmakers are trying to understand other contributing factors, such as increased drug costs and long-term care.
“We need to talk about those things in a complete story,” she said.
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