Ammiano Authors State Bill To Cripple Secure Communities Program

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Assemblyhack Tom Ammiano has authored a bill that will grant numerous exceptions to the Federal Secure Communities program that requires immigration checks at local jails

BILL NUMBER: AB 1081 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ammiano

FEBRUARY 18, 2011

An act to add Chapter 17.1 (commencing with Section 7282) to
Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code, relating to state
government.



LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1081, as introduced, Ammiano. State government: federal
immigration policy enforcement.
Existing law, setting forth the findings and declarations of the
Legislature, 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 or discovery undertaken to enforce those state laws, an
inquiry into a person's 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 would state the findings and declarations of the
Legislature with respect to a memorandum of agreement with the United
States Department of Homeland Security, regarding the implementation
of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Secure Communities
program, that the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information
within the Department of Justice entered into on May 8, 2009. The
bill would require the bureau to modify that agreement, according to
specified requirements, or to exercise its authority under the
agreement to terminate the agreement.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. Chapter 17.1 (commencing with Section 7282) is added to
Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code, to read:
CHAPTER 17.1. FEDERAL IMMIGRATION POLICY ENFORCEMENT


7282. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Both the State of Washington and Washington, D.C., have
refused to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the United
States Department of Homeland Security regarding the Immigration and
Custom Enforcement's Secure Communities program because the program
undermines community policing and public safety.
(2) Pursuant to the program, federal officials have claimed the
authority to enforce federal immigration laws, and in particular, the
authority to detain individuals based on minimal contact with law
enforcement.
(3) Immigrant residents who are victims or witnesses to crime,
including domestic violence related crimes, are less likely to report
the crime or cooperate with law enforcement because any contact with
law enforcement could result in deportation, without regard to
whether the arrest was wrongful or the result of a mistake.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Bureau of
Criminal Identification and Information within the Department of
Justice modify the memorandum of agreement with the United States
Department of Homeland Security, regarding the implementation of the
Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Secure Communities program, it
entered into on May 8, 2009, as specified in this act, thereby paying
respect to the wishes of local jurisdictions, including San
Francisco, Santa Clara, and Berkeley, which have actively worked for
decades to build community trust in law enforcement and have
expressed concern that the Secure Communities program has been
deployed without adequate notice or consent.
7282.1. (a) The Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information
within the Department of Justice shall modify the memorandum of
agreement with the United States Department of Homeland Security,
regarding the implementation of the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement's Secure Communities program, entered into on May 8,
2009, in accordance with all of the following requirements:
(1) The modified agreement shall authorize a local government to
participate in the Secure Communities program only upon the passage
of an ordinance or resolution authorizing participation by the
legislative body of the local government.
(2) The modified agreement shall require a local government that
opts to participate in the program, as provided in paragraph (1), to
submit to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information
within the Department of Justice a plan to guard against, and
monitor, racial profiling associated with the local government's
participation in the program.
(3) The modified agreement shall authorize local governments to
adopt reasonable exceptions to the implementation of the program with
respect to all of the following:
(A) Protections for domestic violence victims.
(B) Protections for juveniles.
(C) An explicit limitation on the sharing of fingerprints under
the program to those of individuals convicted, rather than merely
accused, of a crime.
(4) The modified agreement shall include, but not be limited to,
all of the following safeguards against racial profiling:
(A) A prohibition against the use of driver's license checkpoints
to obtain fingerprints for the purposes of the Secure Communities
program.
(B) A requirement that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement
establish a complaint mechanism that allows for expedited review of
claims by those put into immigration removal proceedings prior to
conviction as a result of the program.
(b) If the bureau is unable to fulfill the requirements of
subdivision (a), it shall exercise its authority under the agreement
to terminate the agreement.