The advisement is in response to President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation proposal aimed at addressing illegal immigration.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta requested Dec. 4 that Californians report to his office any violations of state laws that limit state institutions, agencies, and local law enforcement’s ability to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement actions.
Senate Bill 54—passed in 2017 and known as the California Values Act—blocks state and local agencies from using resources to assist immigration enforcement by arresting, detaining, detecting, interrogating, or investigating individuals suspected of entering the country illegally.
The appeal came in an announcement that courts, health care facilities, libraries, and other public institutions in California were advised to craft policies meant to make it more difficult for federal law enforcement authorities to deport illegal immigrants.
Such advisement is in response to comments made by President-elect Donald Trump during his campaign and after the election that deportations will be a prime component of his national security policies, according to the attorney general, and updates guidance first issued in 2018 during Trump’s first term.
“We will not allow safe spaces like libraries, hospitals, and courthouses to be co-opted and commandeered for [Trump’s] inhumane immigration agenda,” Bonta said in a statement. “My office will continue to use the full force of the law and every tool at our disposal to protect the rights of California’s immigrants, and we need staff at these critical locations to do the same.”
He said fear of immigration enforcement could harm the 1.8 million—as calculated by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center—illegal immigrants residing in California.
“We cannot let the Trump deportation machine create a culture of fear and mistrust that prevents immigrants from accessing vital public services,” Bonta said.
State courts, public schools, and publicly funded health care facilities are required by law to follow the order and craft policies in line with the attorney general’s guidelines. All other institutions are encouraged to comply.
