By Jonathan Ellett
FAIR
Illegal aliens and their open-borders advocates swarmed California’s state Capitol last week in a massive rally to demand that state lawmakers take action to prevent President-Elect Donald Trump from enforcing our immigration laws and deporting illegal aliens.
But the rally was more than simply a symbolic expression of resistance against efforts to enforce federal immigration law. Advocates from various pro-illegal alien groups, such as ICE out of CA, Dignity not Detention, and Freedom for Immigrants, enumerated three demands for Governor Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers:
- Governor Newsom must pardon illegal aliens with criminal convictions to protect them from deportation;
- The State must refrain from leasing or selling any land that could be used for detention facilities; and
- The State must not use any tax dollars to aid federal deportation efforts.
The protest took place on the first day of California’s legislative Special Session which was convened by Governor Newsom in order to develop plans to fight President Trump’s policy agenda—especially is immigration policies. Since the start of the special session, several bills have already been introduced to protect illegal aliens:
- Assembly Bill 15 would impede cooperation with federal immigration authorities by prohibiting the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from detaining an illegal alien on the basis of a detainer request or providing federal authorities with release date information;
- Assembly Bill 49 would prohibit school officials and employees of local educational agencies from permitting ICE officers to enter school grounds without presentation of a valid judicial warrant and approval from the school district’s superintendent; and
- Assembly Bill 2, would appropriate $500,000 to California’s Department of Justice to pay for litigation expenses. This funding is likely only the beginning. During Trump’s first term, California spent approximately $42 million suing his administration 122 times.
California’s cities are also taking additional action to shield aliens from immigration enforcement. Two weeks ago, Los Angeles doubled down on its sanctuary policies to prohibit any cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Additionally, the Los Angeles Police Department’s new chief, Jim McDonnell, has reaffirmed the department’s commitment to refrain from using resources to enforce federal immigration law, a policy the city has followed since it was enacted in 1979.
While open-border advocates acknowledge actions taken in the state, they argue more needs to be done to protect illegal aliens. Laura Hernandez, executive director of Freedom for Immigrants, said that even though the focus is currently on securing funding for litigation, “we’re really looking for some action from the governor to do more than that, to go above and beyond.”
Others, like California Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher, called the Special Session a political stunt. Citing high unemployment and the cost-of-living crisis plaguing California, he stated that “we call a Special Session to what? Pay more government lawyers to sue Trump. It’s tone deaf.”
Already, state leaders in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, and Colorado have joined with California in pledging their support to resist the incoming Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.
