Lifezette: California Declares War on Immigration Enforcement

IRLI In The News

December 16, 2016

By Brendan Kirby

Legislative initiatives in Golden State seek to undercut Trump before he even takes office

California lawmakers have declared war on Donald Trump, pushing a rash of immigration-related bills in the state’s General Assembly meant to undercut the president-elect’s enforcement agenda before he even takes office.

The legislation confronts Trump on a variety of immigration fronts — some real, some imagined. Many are of dubious constitutionality in a realm the Supreme Court has held in recent years is the exclusive province of the federal government.

“To the millions of undocumented residents pursuing and contributing to the California dream, the state of California will be your wall of justice should the incoming administration adopt an inhumane and overreaching mass-deportation policy,” Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León said in a statement this month announcing a bill to create “safe zones” for illegal immigrants.

State agencies would be required to update confidentiality policies, and immigration enforcement would be banned at public schools, hospitals, and courthouses.

The law, an extension of “sanctuary” policies already adopted by California and many local jurisdictions in the Golden State, would run headlong into Trump’s vow to stamp out such resistance. The Center for Immigration Studies this week outlined a long list of options at the new president’s disposal, including cuts in federal funding, civil suits — and possibly even criminal charges under alien-harboring statutes.

“All throughout the Obama years, California’s been engaging in laws and programs that completely go against the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause which allows states to only mirror, not exceed, our national immigration laws,” Immigration Reform Law Institute Executive Director Dale Wilcox wrote in an email to LifeZette. “But with an Attorney General [Jeff] Sessions coming up, a man who understands immigration law and the Constitution, they’ll hopefully be getting hit with a serious federal challenge.” … Read the full story by Brendan Kirby.

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