Almost a month after the Trump administration launched an unbanned immigration enforcement campaign in Southern California, it has deployed federal troops in attacks that have sparked massive protests, prompting ongoing lawsuits in federal courts and gusts of a bill attempting to try and fight from infuriated state lawmakers.
Still, at least so far, there doesn’t seem to be anything that can stop the White House or force a change in tactics.
In both Sacramento and Washington, observers said elected officials were considering proposals that appear to lack teeth.
Ahilan Allanantam, co-director of the UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy and a former senior adviser to the American Civil Liberties Union in Los Angeles, said it would be difficult to stop the Trump administration from sending masked, unidentified immigration agents to steal people on the streets.
“They just have to restrain everyone, question everything, and then they understand who is illegal, and that’s blatantly illegal,” he said. “We can write more laws, but there’s a completely completely good law that says this is illegal and we’re doing it anyway.”
The bill, released on Monday by State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Alhambra), expands police impersonation laws and requires all law enforcement agencies to wear name tags or badge numbers unless they are infiltrated.
“While ICE has publicly condemned spoofing, the use of agency face coverings and the lack of consistent visible identification creates public disruption and makes it difficult for the public to distinguish between licensed law enforcement officials and dangerous offenders,” the Renée Pérez office said in a news release.
Another bill introduced by state senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Jesse Arreguín (D-Berkeley) seeks to prohibit law enforcement from covering their faces.
US president Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) announced similar laws at the federal level on Tuesday, but that means that the Republican majority in both Congressional homes are unlikely to become law.
The state bill is likely to pass in Democratic-controlled legislatures, but it is still facing opposition.
Peace officers are researching research. Of California, the nation’s largest statewide law enforcement union, he said banning facial coverings could inadvertently place local officers who already need to wear badges, nameplates or badge numbers on their uniforms, as they risk losing access to personal protective equipment such as facial shields and respiratory systems.
“Using local law enforcement as a punching bag to the federal government to the grandstand should not be an acceptable practice from our state leaders. It is misdirected, false and unbearable,” Porac President Brian R. Marvel said in a statement.
Marvel said he suspected California had the authority to regulate federal officers’ attire.
Arulanantham opposed, stating that state law can withstand as long as mask bans are neutrally applied to all law enforcement agencies, not just federal officials.
He said other potential measures in the state legislature could expand SB 54, a sanctuary policy that restricts cooperation between state law enforcement and federal authorities on immigration enforcement. But even these protections are being attacked in court.
The Trump administration sued the city of LA on Monday, claiming that its sanctuary policies hampered the federal government’s ability to enforce immigration laws.
“Our city remains committed to standing up for our constitutional rights and the rights of our residents,” a spokesman for the city of LA said in a statement. “We will continue to defend the ordinance and advocate for policies that reflect long-standing values as a welcoming community for all residents.”
Other bills moving forward through the state legislature include measures that would restrict school officials from allowing immigration enforcement within schools’ non-public areas and prohibit healthcare workers from sharing patients’ immigration status without a judicial warrant.
Democrats aren’t just trying to set the White House back.
A group of state Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to Trump, claiming that widespread immigrant attacks have crippled the economy by stealing workers from major industries.
“Unfortunately, recent ice workplaces have had unintended consequences of attacks at farms, construction sites, restaurants and hotels that are harming the communities we represent and the businesses that employ our members,” the letter said.
The Department of Homeland Security said its agents are busy arresting “illegal criminal aliens” and will continue to work despite “rioters and politicians trying to sabotage law enforcement.”
“We will only double and strengthen enforcement action against the worst of the worst criminals as malicious politicians try to lightly mean and slander our brave law enforcement,” Tricia McLaughlin, deputy secretary for homeland security, said in a June 26 news release.
Local city and county governments, civil rights groups, and even individuals have been able to sue the government with the ice on the grounds that it violated the constitutional rights of its citizens and hurt the local economy, but no prominent lawsuits have been filed.
The city of Los Angeles is hoping to file a lawsuit and has already approved legal action against the ice, according to a proposal signed by seven members of the city council.
But the early struggles in the state’s challenge to Trump’s federal deployment are not going well with future litigation. The U.S. Ninth Circuit quickly overturns a lower court decision restricting Trump’s powers, and lawsuits on whether the military can be used to enforce immigration remains ongoing.
While the court battle is occurring, state Democratic leaders, including Congressional Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), say they are working to quickly track several bills through the legislative process.
“Speakers are deeply invested in protecting California migrant workers and families in the face of reckless ice attacks and Trump’s power abuse,” Ribas spokesman Nick Miller said in a statement.
Some observers said it would be up to Republicans to change their focus from Trump’s agenda to what will affect electorals, despite the short-term struggle laws being likely to face, said Roy Baer, a veteran Democratic political strategist.
“It seems Republicans are more focused on doing anything Trump wants, but at least these votes force them to show where their loyalty is really lying, and perhaps one day they’ll actually feel pressure to pay the price for these votes and ultimately change their minds.”
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