On Thursday, Jerry Brown, the Governor of California, signed legislation extending the protections offered by the state to undocumented immigrants, in a move intended to counter the immigration crackdown brought on by President Donald Trump. From 1 January 2018, police will be prevented from making inquiries about the immigration status of individuals or from taking part in immigration enforcement activities.
Also, the transfer of prison inmates to federal immigration authorities will only be allowed if they have received certain criminal convictions. There are believed to be around 2.3 million undocumented immigrants living in the state of California, and Brown claims that the SB54 bill strikes a balance between protecting public safety while offering comfort to undocumented families living in fear due to uncertain times.
The Democrats, who helped the bill to clear the Legislature in spite of criticism from the Republican Party, who claimed that it only makes the job of law enforcement officials harder by offering protection to criminals, are hoping to limit the reach of officers with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a result. The original version of the bill would have been more severe but was scaled back to enable jail cooperation at Brown’s request.
Jail officers, sheriffs, and police officials will still be able to aid federal immigration authorities if an immigrant has a criminal conviction for one of approximately 800 crimes, but they will not be able to have them transferred to federal immigration authorities if they have committed only minor offenses.