BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 4|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 4
Author: Ammiano (D), et al.
Amended: 6/24/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 7/2/13
AYES: Hancock, Block, De León, Liu, Steinberg
NOES: Anderson, Knight
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 44-22, 5/16/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : State government: federal immigration policy
enforcement
SOURCE : American Civil Liberties Union
Asian Law Caucus
California Immigrant Policy Center
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
DIGEST : This bill prohibits a law enforcement official from
detaining an individual on the basis of a United States
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold after that
individual becomes eligible for release from custody unless
specified conditions are met.
ANALYSIS :
Existing federal law:
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1.Provides that any authorized immigration officer may at any
time issue a Form I-247, Immigration Detainer-Notice of
Action, to any other federal, state, or local law enforcement
agency. A detainer serves to advise another law enforcement
agency that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeks
custody of an alien presently in the custody of that agency,
for the purpose of arresting and removing the alien. The
detainer is a request that such agency advise the DHS, prior
to release of the alien, in order for the DHS to arrange to
assume custody, in situations when gaining immediate physical
custody is either impracticable or impossible.
2.States that upon a determination by the DHS to issue a
detainer for an alien not otherwise detained by a criminal
justice agency, such agency shall maintain custody of the
alien for a period not to exceed 48 hours, excluding
Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays in order to permit assumption
of custody by the DHS.
3.Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to enter into
agreements that delegate immigration powers to local police.
The negotiated agreements between ICE and the local police are
documented in Memorandum of Agreements, as specified.
Existing state law provides that all protections, rights, and
remedies available under state law, except any reinstatement
remedy prohibited by federal law, are available to all
individuals regardless of immigration status who have applied
for employment, or who are or who have been employed, within the
state, and further provides that, for purposes of enforcing
specified state laws, a person's immigration status is
irrelevant to the issue of liability, and prohibits in
proceedings for discovery immigration status except where the
person seeking to make the inquiry has shown by clear and
convincing evidence that the inquiry is necessary in order to
comply with federal immigration law.
This bill:
1.Provides that a law enforcement official has discretion to
cooperate with federal immigration officials by detaining an
individual on the basis of an immigration hold after that
individual becomes eligible for release from custody only if
the continued detention of the individual on the basis of the
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immigration hold does not violate any federal, state, or local
law, or any local policy, and only under any of the following
circumstances:
A. The individual has been convicted of a serious or
violent felony, as specified.
B. The individual has been convicted of any felony which is
punishable by imprisonment in state prison.
C. The individual has been convicted within the last five
years of a misdemeanor for a crime that is punishable as a
felony or misdemeanor.
D. The individual has been convicted at any time for any
one of a list of specified felonies.
E. The individual is a current registrant on the California
Sex and Arson Registry.
F. The individual has been arrested for any specified
felony, and a magistrate has made a finding that there is
probable cause to hold the person to answer for that
charge.
If none of these conditions are satisfied, an individual may
not be detained on the basis of an immigration hold after that
person becomes eligible for release from custody.
1.Makes a number of legislative findings and declarations.
Background
The Secure Communities Program (S-Comm) was developed by DHS and
ICE in March 2008. Under the program, participating local law
enforcement agencies would submit arrestees' fingerprints to ICE
and Federal Bureau of Investigation databases, the United States
Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program, and
IDENT (Automated Biometric Identification System). The program
allowed these federal agencies to access the arrestee's
documented criminal and immigration history. According to ICE
statements and materials, S-Comm is intended to target dangerous
criminals and those who pose threats to public safety.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/3/13)
American Civil Liberties Union (co-source)
Asian Law Caucus (co-source)
California Immigrant Policy Center (co-source)
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (co-source)
National Day Laborer Organizing Network (co-source)
American Civil Liberties Union of Santa Cruz County
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Friends Service Committee's US-Mexico Border Project
Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality
Asian Law Alliance
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Black Alliance for Just Immigration
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California Communities United Institute
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
California Public Defenders Association
Cal-Islanders Humanitarian Association
Canal Alliance
Central American Resource Center - Los Angeles
Central American Resource Center - San Francisco
Central Valley Partnership for Citizenship
Centro Laboral de Graton
Centro Legal de la Raza
Chinese for Affirmative Action
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
Council on American-Islamic Relations
Diocese of Orange
Dream Team Los Angeles
East Bay Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice
East Bay Sanctuary Covenant
Filipino Advocates for Justice
Fresno Immigrant Youth in Action
Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Golden State Bail Agents Association
Greater Long Beach Interfaith Community Organization
Immigrant Legal resource Center
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Immigration Center for Women and Children
Immigration Task Force of California Nevada Annual Conference of
the United
Methodist Church
Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights
Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco
L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center
Lutheran Office of
Mujeres Unidas y Activas
National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter
National Immigration Law Center
Out4 Immigration
PANGEA Legal Services
People's Democratic Club of Santa Cruz County
PICO California
Public Policy - California
Reform, CA
San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors
Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
UAW Local 4123
UAW Local 5810
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry Action Network
United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 5
Women's Foundation of California
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/3/13)
California District Attorneys Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
Los Angeles County District Attorney
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Partnership to End
Domestic Violence states:
S-Comm is a controversial Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) program which has undercut community
policing strategies. Since its implementation, S-Comm has
led to the deportation of over 90,000 California residents
as of December 2012 - more than any other state. Contrary
to this program's stated goal of prioritizing serious
felony offenses, the vast majority of those deported, about
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69%, are categorized by ICE as either "non-criminals" or
individuals with lesser offenses, including traffic
violations. Even U.S. citizens, survivors of domestic
violence, and immigrants arrested only for selling street
food without a permit have been unfairly detained due to
S-Comm.
Despite changes announced to the program, a report from
University of California Irvine's Immigrant Rights Clinic
found that "ICE's failure to adhere to its own stated
priorities is a feature rather than a reparable flaw" of
S-Comm. Thus, immigrant victims and witnesses of crime may
be afraid to come forward to cooperate with law enforcement
for fear that they could be detained for deportation by
ICE.
The TRUST Act [AB 4]will set reasonable limits for local
responses to ICE's burdensome "detainer" requests, the
linchpin of the failed S-Comm program. These holds are
voluntary under federal regulations and federal statute.
Currently, local jails bear the brunt of the cost of
responding to these requests. This includes the cost of
tracking and responding to ICE detainers, and the
additional time community members are held beyond the point
they would normally be released.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California District Attorneys
Association states:
We are concerned that this bill could result in the
inappropriate and untimely release of potentially dangerous
offenders. There are numerous crimes that do not meet the
statutory definition of serious felony or violent felony
that are nonetheless serious and/or violent. Additionally,
this infirmity appears to be the basis for Governor Brown's
veto of last year's A.B. 1081, a nearly identical bill, and
it is unclear what has changed in the meantime.
Additionally, we fear this bill would frustrate local
cooperation with federal officials who maintain exclusive
province over the enforcement of immigration law. It
appears that this bill would permit a local policy to trump
federal law, and it is not clear how such a provision would
pass constitutional muster.
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 44-22, 5/16/13
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto,
Gomez, Gordon, Hall, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, Levine,
Lowenthal, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, V.
Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Rendon, Skinner, Ting, Torres, Weber,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Achadjian, Bigelow, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly,
Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Linder, Logue,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Muratsuchi, Nestande, Olsen, Patterson,
Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Chávez, Chesbro, Fox, Gorell, Gray,
Grove, Holden, Melendez, Morrell, Quirk-Silva, Salas, Stone,
Vacancy
JG:nl 7/3/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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