California’s ‘sanctuary state’ bill clears hurdle, moves to Senate

The San Jose Mercury News reports:

With minor changes to win over moderates, a polarizing California bill to keep California’s law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration agents cleared a key hurdle Monday and will head to the full Senate for a vote.

Senate Bill 54 is perhaps the Legislature’s highest-profile act of defiance against the Trump administration, which is seeking to enlist the help of local police to carry out its promised crackdown on illegal immigration. The proposal would prohibit local and state agencies from using state resources to communicate with federal agents, with a few exceptions — such as task forces involving federal and local agencies.

“It’s not a matter of ideology. It’s a matter of common sense,” said the bill’s author, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León. “Our communities will become more and not less dangerous when local police officers are pulled from their duties to pull otherwise law-abiding maids, bus boys, gardeners and day laborers for immigration violations.”

The bill officially titled the California Values Act advanced Monday on a party-line vote, despite opposition from the California State Sheriffs’ Association and other groups, at a packed and testy Senate appropriations committee hearing. The sheriffs association remained opposed even after the recent amendments, such as one that would ensure the feds receive a 60-day notice before certain violent felons are released from state prison or local custody. Previously, the bill wouldn’t have allowed such explicit communication about an inmate’s release.

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