It’s a pretty clear choice: California can set a bold example of how to stand up for immigrants and against Trump—or we can collectively decide to give up and back down.
All across the U.S., states are deciding whether they want to be complicit with or defiant towards the Trump administration's attacks on immigrants.
In California, a sanctuary state bill called the California Values Act (CVA or SB54), which would openly resist Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda, is making its way through the state legislature—but if we don’t act now, it might not get through the California State Assembly.
The California Values Act has a very real chance of passing into law—it already passed the California State Senate—but if our California State Assembly members swat it down, it’ll be dead in the water.
This is a crisis moment for our state and our nation—you don’t need me to tell you that. This is the kind of time where we make it clear what kind of people we are as Californians: welcoming to all and willing to stand up to bigots—or ready to fold under pressure and rat out our neighbors.
We know that immigrants are an integral part of our communities—and we also know that it takes collective effort to stand up to bullies and hatemongers. If there was ever a time to assert that in public and loudly—it’s right now.
That’s why the CVA is the strongest sanctuary state bill of its kind of the nation—here’s just some of what it does to stand up against Trump:
- It places severe limits on how much local and state law enforcement can collaborate with Trump’s deportation policies.
- It makes it easier for undocumented immigrants to interact with our state government and receive basic services without fear of being outed to the federal government.
- It makes sure our public schools, hospitals, courthouses, and libraries are safe and available for every single Californian, immigrant or otherwise.
Allies like CAIR-California and the California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC) have already done fantastic work getting us this close to passing the CVA—now it’s time to add our voices as MPower Change members.
Will you please help us make sure the California Values Act passes?
Immigrants across our state are now being forced into an impossible situation: why report a dangerous crime or a real problem when you know the police might prioritize targeting you instead? Already, survivors of domestic violence have been arrested along with the person committing the abuse, and turned over to ICE for deportation.1 Elderly immigrants have been forced into hiding after a single stop by police.2 As it is, there’s already a crisis of confidence in law enforcement in our state and nation.3,4 This has to end.
But this bill isn’t just important for California—if it passes, it’ll throw a huge wrench in Trump’s overall ability to pursue a national anti-immigrant agenda.
Any mass deportation plan is contingent on forcing local law enforcement to do the federal government’s dirty work for them.
But if California, the largest state in the country and one with a huge immigrant population, refuses to be forced into Trump’s hate-filled agenda, it has severe consequences for his ability to brag about deportations—and provides an example for other states to truly resist.
Sources:
1. “Immigrants Fear a Choice Between Domestic Violence and Deportation” Mother Jones, Mar 20, 2017
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/ice-dhs-immigration-domestic-violence-protections
2. “California’s Senate Just Approved a Bill to Protect Its Residents From Trump’s Deportation Forces” ACLU of Southern California, Apr 5 2017
https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/californias-senate-just-approved-bill-protect-its-residents-trumps-deportation
3. “Sheriff Youngblood talks about how things will change in Kern with immigration and law enforcement” Kern Golden Empire, Feb 14, 2017
http://www.kerngoldenempire.com/news/local-news/sheriff-youngblood-talks-about-how-things-will-change-in-kern-with-immigration-and-law-enforcement/656103534
4. “The FBI Has Quietly Investigated White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement” The Intercept, Jan 31, 2017
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/31/the-fbi-has-quietly-investigated-white-supremacist-infiltration-of-law-enforcement/
Photo credit: CHIRLA via Twitter
