Existing law, the California Values Act, generally prohibits California law enforcement agencies from investigating, interrogating, detaining, detecting, or arresting persons for immigration enforcement purposes. Existing law provides certain limited exceptions to this prohibition, including transfers of persons pursuant to a judicial warrant and providing certain information to federal authorities regarding persons convicted of human trafficking. This bill would additionally except, for purposes of the act, any California law enforcement agency performing any responsibilities under the scope of its jurisdiction regarding any person who is alleged to have violated, or who has been previously convicted of violating, specified provisions relating to sex trafficking.
Existing law designates 8 agencies in state government and requires the secretary of an agency to be generally responsible for the sound fiscal management of each department, office, or other unit within the agency. Existing law further requires the secretary of an agency to, among other duties, continually seek to improve the organization structure, the operating policies, and the management information systems of each department, office, or other unit. This bill would establish the Immigrant and Refugee Affairs Agency as an agency within state government, to be headed by a secretary who is appointed by the Governor and subject to Senate confirmation. The bill would specify that the purpose of the agency is to enhance, and reduce obstacles to, immigrant and refugee inclusion into the social, cultural, economic, and civic life of the state. The bill would authorize the secretary to, among other things, assist other state agencies in evaluating their programs for accessibility and effectiveness in providing services to immigrants and refugees and recommending policy and budget mechanisms for meeting immigrant and refugee inclusion. This bill would establish the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs within the agency, under the direction of the Statewide Director of Immigrant and Refugee Inclusion. The bill would declare the intent to incorporate existing and future programs created to assist immigrants and refugees into the office. The bill would transfer to the office the property of any other office, agency, or department that relates to functions concerning immigrant and refugee affairs. The bill would require every officer and employee who is performing a function at another office, agency, or department that is transferred to the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs to also be transferred to the office, and would provide that every officer and employee who is serving in the state civil service who is transferred to the office shall retain their status, position, and rights, except as specified. The bill would create the Immigrant and Refugee Inclusion Fund within the State Treasury, and would make the moneys in the fund available to the office upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would transfer to the office any unencumbered balance of any appropriation or other funds that were available for use in connection with any function transferred to the office. This bill would limit interagency sharing of information, would prohibit sharing of personal information of immigrants and refugees outside of the agency, and would prohibit use of agency resources to directly or indirectly participate or assist in immigration enforcement activity. Existing law establishes the Statewide Director of Immigrant Integration and requires the director serve as the statewide lead for the planning and coordination of immigrant services and policies in California. Existing law requires, among other things, that the director develop a comprehensive statewide report on programs and services that serve immigrants, develop an online clearinghouse of immigrant services, resources, and programs, and monitor the implementation of statewide laws and regulations that serve immigrants. This bill would recast those provisions to rename the director as the Statewide Director of Immigrant and Refugee Inclusion and would require the director to, among other things, develop a mission statement, strategic plan, and matrix of success for the office, and to report to the Legislature biannually on successes and challenges in meeting immigrant and refugee inclusion goals. The bill would require the director, by January 1, 2027, to report to the Governor and the Legislature on programs and services that serve immigrants and refugees and on a statewide plan for better implementation and coordination of immigrant and refugee assistance policies and programs. The bill would repeal the bill's provisions on January 1, 2036. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law, the California Values Act, generally prohibits California law enforcement agencies from investigating, interrogating, detaining, detecting, or arresting persons for immigration enforcement purposes, including providing information regarding a person's release date or responding to requests for notification by providing release dates or other information, as specified. Existing law provides that responses are never required, but are permitted, provided that they do not violate any local law or policy. Existing law provides the above-described prohibition does not prevent a California law enforcement agency from performing certain limited exceptions to this prohibition that do not violate any policy of the law enforcement agency or any local law or policy of the jurisdiction in which the agency is operating. Existing law provides a law enforcement official with discretion to cooperate with immigration authorities only if doing so would not violate any federal, state, or local law, or local policy, and where permitted by the California Values Act. This bill would instead provide that responses relating to a person's release date, as described above, are required. The bill would instead require a California law enforcement agency to perform certain limited exceptions to the prohibition, as specified. The bill would instead require a law enforcement official to cooperate with immigration authorities only if doing so would not violate any federal or state law or policy, and where permitted by the California Values Act. By imposing new duties on local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, subject to an appropriation, to provide grants to qualified nonprofit organizations through contracts, in order to provide certain immigration-related legal services to persons residing in, or formerly residing in, the state. Under existing law, those grants are aimed at obtaining certain immigration remedies and benefits, assisting with the naturalization process and an appeal arising from the process, or providing legal training and technical assistance. Existing law prohibits these funds from being used to provide legal services to an individual who has been convicted of, or who is currently appealing a conviction for, a violent felony, as specified, or a serious felony, as specified. This bill would additionally prohibit these funds from being used to obstruct or interfere with federal enforcement actions or legal proceedings against individuals convicted of a felony who are present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws. The bill would specify that this restriction includes, but is not limited to, expenditures on litigation, administrative actions, or any other measures intended to shield such individuals from federal apprehension or deportation.
This measure would, among other things, call for an immediate end to policies that obstruct lawful immigration enforcement and urge the Governor to take immediate action to restore law and order.
This measure would strongly condemn and denounce mass immigration raids that target immigrant workers and families in California and the engagement of the military in immigration enforcement operations and in response to community protests. This measure would affirm support for safeguarding the rights and safety of all Californians, regardless of immigration status, and support, among other things, the expansion of legal services and emergency response resources to protect workers, children, and families affected by immigration enforcement.
(1) Under existing law, each school district and county office of education is responsible for the overall development, as specified, of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of its schools operating kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law requires a comprehensive school safety plan to, among other things, identify appropriate strategies and programs that will provide or maintain a high level of school safety and address the school's procedures for complying with existing laws related to school safety. This bill would additionally require, until January 1, 2031, when a comprehensive school safety plan is next reviewed and updated, or by no later than March 1, 2026, those plans to include procedures specifically designed to notify parents and guardians of pupils, teachers, administrators, and school personnel when the school confirms the presence of immigration enforcement, as defined, on the schoolsite. Existing law prohibits a chartering authority from denying a petition for the establishment of a charter school unless it makes written factual findings supporting at least one of specified bases for denial. One of those bases for denying a petition is if the petition does not contain a reasonably comprehensive description of the development of a school safety plan that includes the same safety topics required in the comprehensive school safety plan of a school district or county office of education. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2031, a chartering authority to deny a charter school petition that does not include in its proposed development of a school safety plan the same provisions on procedures and policies relating to notifying parents and guardians of pupils, teachers, administrators, and charter school personnel when the charter school confirms the presence of immigration enforcement, as defined, on the schoolsite as are required by the bill in a school district or county office of education comprehensive school safety plan. The bill also would make conforming changes. To the extent that this bill would impose new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and independent institutions of higher education as 4 segments of postsecondary education in the state. Existing law requires the Trustees of the California State University, the governing boards of community college districts, and independent institutions of higher education that are qualifying institutions for purposes of the Cal Grant Program, and requests the Regents of the University of California, to the fullest extent consistent with state and federal law, to implement various precautionary measures when federal immigration enforcement activities are undertaken on campuses of those segments, as specified, including, among others, that those postsecondary entities advise all students, faculty, and staff to notify the office of the chancellor or president, or their designee, as soon as possible, if they are advised that an immigration officer is expected to enter, will enter, or has entered the campus to execute a federal immigration order. This bill would require, until January 1, 2031, those postsecondary educational entities, and each campus of those postsecondary educational entities, to notify, as specified, all students, faculty, staff, and other campus community members who work on campus when the presence of immigration enforcement, as defined, is confirmed on campus. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) Existing law prohibits, except as required by state or federal law or as required to administer a state or federally supported educational program, school officials and employees of a school district, county office of education, or charter school from collecting information or documents regarding citizenship or immigration status of pupils or their family members. Existing law requires the superintendent of a school district, the superintendent of a county office of education, and the principal of a charter school, as applicable, to report to the respective governing board or body of the local educational agency in a timely manner any requests for information or access to a schoolsite by an officer or employee of a law enforcement agency for the purpose of enforcing the immigration laws in a manner that ensures the confidentiality and privacy of any potentially identifying information. This bill would prohibit school officials and employees of a local educational agency from allowing an officer or employee of an agency conducting immigration enforcement to enter a nonpublic area of a schoolsite, as defined, for any purpose without being presented with a valid judicial warrant, judicial subpoena, or a court order. The bill would require school officials and employees of a local educational agency, to the extent practicable, to request valid identification of any officer or employee of an agency conducting immigration enforcement seeking to enter a nonpublic area of a schoolsite. The bill would also prohibit a local educational agency and its personnel from disclosing or providing, in writing, verbally, or in any other manner, the education records of or any information about a pupil or a pupil's family and household without the pupil's parents' or guardians' written consent, a school employee, or a teacher to an officer or employee of an agency conducting immigration enforcement without a valid judicial warrant or judicial subpoena, or court order directing the local educational agency or its personnel to do so. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires the Attorney General, by April 1, 2018, in consultation with the appropriate stakeholders, to publish model policies limiting assistance with immigration enforcement at public schools, to the fullest extent possible consistent with federal and state law, and ensuring that public schools remain safe and accessible to all California residents, regardless of immigration status, as provided. Existing law requires local educational agencies, by July 1, 2018, to adopt those model policies developed by the Attorney General or equivalent policies. This bill would require the Attorney General, by December 1, 2025, to update those model policies to ensure that the policies align with the above-described prohibitions on school officials and employees of local educational agencies allowing an officer or employee of an agency conducting immigration enforcement to enter a nonpublic area of a schoolsite without a valid judicial warrant or judicial subpoena, or a court order and from disclosing or providing certain information to those officers or employees, as provided. The bill also would require a local educational agency to update its model policy by March 1, 2026, and to make the policy available to the State Department of Education upon request. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) This bill would make these provisions severable. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. (5) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law requires the court, prior to the acceptance of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, to advise the defendant that if they are not a citizen, conviction of the crime charged may result in deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization. After January 1, 1978, if the court fails to advise the defendant, as required, and the defendant shows that conviction of the offense to which the defendant pleaded guilty or nolo contendere may have the consequences for the defendant of deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization pursuant to the laws of the United States, the court, on the defendant's motion, is required to vacate the judgment and permit the defendant to withdraw the plea of guilty or nolo contendere, and enter a plea of not guilty. This bill would require the court to give the above-described advisement verbatim and would clarify the advisement to state that if the defendant is not a citizen of the United States, conviction may result in the specified immigration consequences. The bill would state that for a plea accepted prior to January 1, 2026, it is not the intent of the Legislature that a court's failure to provide the advisement verbatim requires vacation of judgment and withdrawal of the plea or constitutes grounds for finding a prior conviction invalid, as specified.
Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, prohibits various forms of employment and housing discrimination, including various types of discrimination because of national origin. Existing law empowers the Civil Rights Department to investigate and prosecute complaints alleging unlawful practices. Existing labor law also prohibits an employer or other person or entity from engaging in, or to directing another person or entity to engage in, unfair immigration-related practices against a person for exercising specified rights. Existing law defines unfair immigration-related practices for these purposes. Existing law additionally makes it unlawful for an employer to request more or different immigration documents than are required under federal law, to refuse to honor documents tendered that reasonably appear to be genuine, and to take other related actions concerning employee work authorization documents. Existing law authorizes an applicant for employment or an employee who is subject to an unlawful act that is prohibited by these provisions, or a representative of that applicant for employment or employee, to file a complaint with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. Existing law establishes specified civil penalties for a violation of these provisions. This bill would require each employee, upon request, to be released by their employer for up to 5 unpaid working days within a 12-month period in order to attend appointments, interviews, adjudications, legal proceedings, detainment, or any other meeting at which the employee's presence is required concerning the employee's immigration status, work authorization, visa status, or any other immigration-related matter, as specified. The bill would also require a postintroductory employee, as defined, whose employment has been terminated due to an inability to provide documentation of proper work authorization, to be immediately reinstated to their former classification without loss in seniority, subject to producing proper work authorization, except as provided. The bill would also require an employer, if the employee demonstrates a need for additional time, to rehire the employee into the next available opening in the employee's former classification, as a new hire without retaining seniority, subject to the employee providing proper work authorization and meeting certain other conditions. This bill would require an employer that is notified that an employee has been detained or incarcerated as a result of pending immigration or deportation proceedings, to place the employee on an unpaid leave of absence for a period pending the employee's release from detainment or incarceration and not to exceed 12 months. If the employee is released and provides appropriate work authorization documentation within the period of the authorized unpaid leave of absence, the bill would require the employer to return the employee to their former job classification without loss of seniority, except as specified. This bill would apply the above requirements to a public or private employer, but would exempt a public or private employer with 25 or fewer employees. The bill would prohibit each public or private employer from disciplining, discharging, or discriminating against an employee because of national origin or immigration status, or solely because the employee is subject to immigration or deportation proceedings, except as required to comply with the law. The bill would prohibit an employee subject to immigration or deportation proceedings from being discharged solely because of those proceedings, so long as the employee is authorized to work in the United States. This bill would provide that its provisions do not invalidate a collective bargaining agreement or a memorandum of understanding that contains a provision addressing rehire or reinstatement rights or leave rights regarding employees who are subject to immigration proceedings, nor does it supersede the seniority provisions of a collective bargaining agreement or a memorandum of understanding. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to enforce the bill's provisions. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2029, and would repeal them on January 1, 2030.
