The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Source:
Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:39 PM
Attorney General Jeff Sessions Tears Into California's Stance On Illegal Immigration Announcing Federal Law Suit From Capital
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions slammed California and its stance on illegal immigration in a Sacramento speech to formally announce the federal government’s lawsuit against California, Gov. Jerry Brown and Xavier Becerra, the state’s attorney general.
“California, we have a problem. A series of actions and events has occurred that directly and adversely impact the work of our federal officers,” Sessions told a group assembled for a law enforcement event.
To Libby Schaaf, the Oakland mayor who recently warned her community of immigration raids, Sessions said this: “How dare you. How dare you needlessly endanger the lives of law enforcement just to promote your radical open borders agenda.”
Reaction to the pointed speech varied, depending on the respondent’s stance on immigration, but language from all sides was strong.
Gov. Brown said Sessions was acting “more like Fox News than a law enforcement officer” and added that the Trump administration was “full of liars.”
The lawsuit
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Sacramento, the Justice Dept. is challenging three California laws — the “California Values Act” (SB 54), the “Workplace Raid” law (AB 450), and the “Detention Review” law (AB 103).
The California Values Act, which took effect Jan. 1, limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, including sharing information about criminals in custody unless the person in question has been convicted of certain serious crimes. Passed in reaction to the Trump administration’s tough talk on immigration and his order to broaden deportations, the law essentially establishes California as the nation’s first sanctuary state.
The Dept. of Justice lawsuit seeks to allow police in California to tell federal agents when immigrants are released from custody and to share other information about those people. It also would allow law enforcement in California to transfer immigrants directly into federal custody without a warrant.
The Workplace Raid law forbids employers from cooperating with federal immigration officials and requires them to give a heads-up to their workforce before immigration agents arrive for an inspection. Business owners can be fined $2,000 to $10,000 for failing to comply.
“Just imagine if a state passed a law forbidding employers from cooperating with OSHA in ensuring workplace safety. Or the EPA, looking for a polluter. That would obviously be absurd,” Sessions said. “But it would be no different in principle from this new law enacted by California.”
Among other things, the federal lawsuit seeks to allow California business owners to cooperate with federal agents, including sharing employee records without a judicial order.
The Detention Review law allows California officials to inspect federal facilities in the state where immigrants are being detained on immigration-related issues. The federal lawsuit seeks to strike down that law.
“It’s refreshing”
Activists who want tougher immigration rules, tired of what they view as liberal California laws, were thrilled with Sessions’ words. California leaders, they said, have too long ignored federal rules on immigration to help people who are living in the country illegally.
“It’s refreshing to hear an attorney general talk about upholding our laws,” said Robin Hvidston, executive director of the Claremont-based We the People Rising, an anti-illegal immigration group with members across Southern California.
“It restores order and lawfulness to our state,” said Hvidston, also a leader with the Texas-based Remembrance Project, a group that honors those killed by people residing in the country illegally.
On Facebook, Assemblyman Travis Allen, a Republican gubernatorial candidate from Huntington Beach, touted “We did it!! JUSTICE COMES TO CALIFORNIA!”
Allen’s post late Tuesday garnered over 11,000 likes.
On Wednesday, some of Allen’s constituents went on line to react to Session’s announcement with comments such as this from Inland Empire resident Phyllis Gibson: “Never thought I would ever want to leave the state I was born & raised in. But unless conservatives can gain control, it will only get worse!”
New fears
But activists who support rights for immigrants and unauthorized residents said Sessions’ speech, and the possibility that the federal lawsuit could invalidate California’s immigration statutes, stirred fears in immigrant communities. They said many families include members with mixed legal status, and that those families could be broken up by tougher immigration enforcement.
“If they are successful in taking away these protections, it will affect daily lives,” said Javier Hernandez, director of the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice.
Hernandez ticked off each targeted law and defended them. The law that allows California to evaluate how detention centers are run, for example, is needed to provide transparency and protect those who are being held solely for their immigration status. Last year, he noted, three detainees died in the Adelanto Detention Facility, which is operated by one of the country’s largest private prison companies.
“If the state of California wants to understand how detentions work, and how people are being held in detention, we have every right to do so,” Hernandez said.
Los Angeles Councilman Gil Cedillo said: “With their recent lawsuit, Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump have declared war on California. What they fail to realize is that we have rights too. Their legal threats will not intimidate us.”
In Santa Ana, which has declared itself a “sanctuary city,” Councilman David Benavides said the federal lawsuit could further isolate his community and other immigrant communities across the state.
“Our community was already very fearful and concerned as a result of the last election, when Donald Trump was elected,” Benavides said.
“This makes it more difficult for law enforcement officials to provide safety because some people won’t want to call police.”
Law enforcement
Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, who has called for working more closely with immigration agents, believes public safety is being hindered by current state law, and the federal lawsuit could spark what she views as necessary change.
“I really think we should be able to notify ICE of individuals who have committed serious crimes and who are in our custody and let them know when they are going to be released,” Hutchens said in an interview Wednesday.
Currently, local law enforcement is not allowed to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, when a criminal who is an unauthorized immigrant has served his or her time and is about to be released — though there are exceptions for immigrants who have committed violent crimes and other serious offenses. Previously, local law enforcement could tell ICE about the release of any immigrant from a local jail. ICE agents could then be on hand to detain them again on an immigration hold.
“This is tying my hands behind my back in areas where I think I should notify ICE,” Hutchens said of the current state law. She said the current law forces ICE agents to search and arrest immigrants in the community, which can boost the odds of deportation for other unauthorized immigrants who have not committed any other crime.
“Local law enforcement has no desire to enforce immigration law,” Hutchens said. “However, we must have the ability to work with our federal partners to remove dangerous criminals from our community.”