Vote repudiates Homeland Security’s “Secure Communities” program;
Creates Contrast with Arizona’s harsh approach to immigrant residents
SACRAMENTO
The California State Senate passed the TRUST Act today aimed at countering the strict deportation policies implemented by the federal government under its “Secure Communities” program. Its sponsors contrast the common-sense tone of the California bill with the harsh law passed in Arizona, much of which was overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court last week.
After a forthcoming concurrance vote in the California Assembly, the TRUST Act will be sent to Gov. Jerry Brown to sign. The bill responds to and repudiates the state's forced participation in the program enforced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Securities, which has led to the incarceration and deportation of tens of thousands of undocumented residents in California who have committed no crimes.
"California cannot afford to become another Arizona," said California Assembly member Tom Ammiano, the bill's sponsor. One of the bill's advocates, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, calls the effort the "anti-Arizona law."
"Arizona tried treating all undocumented immigrants as criminals, and it cast all immigrants under a cloud of suspicion. Today California took a step forward down a different path," said Chris Newman, legal director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, based in Los Angeles. "The TRUST ACT is a common sense proposal that disentangles California from broken immigration laws, it protects public safety, and it spares taxpayers the expense of incarcerating Americans in Waiting."
Supported by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and an array of local police and religious leaders, the new state law is aimed at restoring trust in law enforcement and reducing costs to the state of needless arrests and processing. The TRUST Act sets a minimum standard for how California localities respond to national immigration authorities' voluntary hold requests and creates safeguards against racial profiling inherent in the federal and Arizona programs.
Under the leadership of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Secure Communities is responsible for breaking up families, undermining cooperation between immigrant communities and local law enforcement and for the deportation of some 400,000 people annually.
