Trust Act Signed In California To Limit Deportation Program

[ScienceRocks]

Trust Act Signed In California To Limit Deportation Program

WASHINGTON -- California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a bill on Saturday limiting the state's cooperation with federal immigration authorities, a rebuke of a major Obama administration enforcement policy that has led to record deportations from the state.

As the Congress stalls on immigration reform, action continues in the states, and advocates and politicians in California hope they can serve as an example of how to do it right.

“While Washington waffles on immigration, California’s forging ahead,” Brown said in a press release after signing the legislation into law. "I’m not waiting.”

The new California law, known as the Trust Act, limits the state's cooperation with Secure Communities, a federal program that allows the Department of Homeland Security to access fingerprints taken by local police, to screen detained individuals for immigration status and to request that law enforcement agencies hold them if they're found to be undocumented.

Democratic Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, the top sponsor of the Trust Act, said before Brown's signature that he hopes state actions like California's will put more pressure on Congress, rather than drawing attention to the legislative fights there.

Trust Act Signed In California To Limit Deportation Program

I hope my state of Oregon will pass something like this soon We shouldn't be taking part in a rat race.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dey gonna make it to where ya gotta kill somebody to get deported...

APNewsBreak: US weighs curbing deportations
Apr 21,`14 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is weighing limiting deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who don't have serious criminal records, according to two people with knowledge of his deliberations.

The change, if adopted following an ongoing review ordered by President Barack Obama, could shield tens of thousands of immigrants now removed each year solely because they committed repeat immigration violations, such as re-entering the country illegally after having been deported, failing to comply with a deportation order or missing an immigration court date. However, it would fall short of the sweeping changes sought by activists. They want Obama to expand a two-year-old program that grants work permits to certain immigrants brought here illegally as children to include other groups, such as the parents of any children born in the U.S.

John Sandweg, who served until February as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he had promoted the policy change for immigrants without serious criminal records before his departure and that it was being weighed by Johnson. An immigration advocate who's discussed the review with the administration also confirmed the change was under consideration. The advocate spoke on condition of anonymity because the proceedings are confidential. "Any report of specific considerations at this time would be premature," Clark Stevens, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department, said Monday. Stevens said Johnson "has undergone a very rigorous and inclusive process to best inform the review," including seeking input from people within DHS as well as lawmakers of both parties, and other stakeholders.

The approach outlined by Sandweg and the immigration advocate would change the existing priority categories that now include immigrants who've re-entered the country after they have been deported previously, and those who are fugitives from immigration proceedings. Such people would be taken off the priority list. The remaining priority categories focus on recent border-crossers and immigrants who pose a danger to national security or public safety or who've been convicted of crimes. Some of those categories might also be refined or changed, and others could be added. "The time had come to focus ICE's efforts exclusively on public safety and national security," Sandweg said in explaining why he pushed for the change prior to his departure from the agency. He estimated that some 20,000 deported immigrants fell into the categories in question last year.

The potential changes come as Johnson proceeds with a review ordered by Obama on how to make deportation policy more humane. With comprehensive immigration legislation stalled in the GOP-led House after passing the Senate last year, Obama has come under intense election-year pressure to stem deportations, which have neared 2 million on his watch, and allow more of the 11.5 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S. to stay. Many activists, who've staged hunger strikes on the National Mall and outside the White House, want sweeping action by Obama to give legal certainty and work permits to millions more immigrants, like he did for those who arrived illegally as children and attended school or served in the military. It's not clear whether the administration ultimately will take such steps. Obama has said repeatedly his options are limited without action by Congress and has sought to keep the onus on House Republicans. "The only way to truly fix it is through congressional action. We have already tried to take as many administrative steps as we could," Obama said last week at a news conference. "We're going to review it one more time to see if there's more that we can do."

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[Detector]

I think it’s impossible to stem the tide in California and several of the other southern states. The process of natural selection will favour the Hispanics, and those areas will in effect become Hispanic enclaves in the future. The US used to be a nice country, but that was in the past.

Sad but true.