Despite the rise of illegal immigration, California lawmakers are moving to pass a bill called the “Trust Act” that would halt deportation of illegal immigrants for “minor crimes” and prohibit law enforcement from cooperating with I.C.E. agents. The bill is being considered by Gov. Jerry Brown and some are saying the bill will violate federal code 8 1373(a). Immigrant advocates call it an “important strike back against the Obama administration’s Secure Communities program.”
Fox News reported:
“If you or I were victimized by someone stealing our identity, selling drugs in our community, burglarizing our home or embezzling our money, that’s okay? That’s a minor crime under this bill,” complained Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle. “If this law passes, we will not be able to put holds on people who have previously been deported. So someone could be deported one, two, three, four — 10 times and that would not be cause for us to put a hold on them.”
The California District Attorneys Association and the California Sheriffs’ Association oppose the law, in part because it also conflicts with federal statutes.
“It makes no sense and is unconstitutional,” said former ICE Director Julie Myers Wood. “The federal government has sole authority to enforce immigration law. In this instance California is telling the feds what you can and cannot do.”
Wood and others find it ironic, considering a dozen California cities boycotted Arizona when it challenged the supremacy of federal authority in immigration enforcement. This time, however, California officials don’t seem to mind challenging that authority.
