California Senate approves “Anti-Arizona” TRUST Act

Sacramento, CA 

Today, the California State Senate approved AB 1081 (Ammiano), California’s TRUST Act, by a vote of 21-13. Floor manager Senator Kevin de Leόn (D – Los Angeles) presented the bill on the Senate floor.

The TRUST Act would create a national model to counter the racial profiling inherent in the one section of Arizona’s anti-immigrant law which the Supreme Court did not strike down last week. Section 2(B) of Arizona’s SB 1070 requires police to investigate immigration status based on ‘reasonable suspicion,’ while the TRUST Act would create plans to guard against racial profiling.

The TRUST Act was originally drafted as a response to the federal “Secure” Communities or S-Comm deportation program which was described as a parallel to SB1070 sec2b in the Supreme Court case and has been responsible for deporting over 72,000 Californians. 7 in 10 of those deported under S-Comm in the state were deported with either no conviction or for minor offenses. In the worst instances, S-Comm is responsible for placing victims of domestic violence in deportation proceedings and deterring parents from reporting crimes committed against their children.

“We have made key progress today,” said Senator Kevin de Leόn. “This important measure is crucial to keep our communities safe. By promoting trust between immigrants and local law enforcement we ensure that victims of domestic violence and other crimes are not afraid to seek justice.”

Specifically, the TRUST Act sets a clear, minimum standard for local governments not to submit to burdensome requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain people for deportation unless the individual has a serious or violent felony conviction and develops protections to monitor and guard against profiling in the state.

The bill has won the support of the California Catholic Conference, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Police Chiefs of Oakland and Palo Alto, and scores of local officials and community organizations. It will next come back to the State Assembly for one concurrence vote following summer recess, before heading down to the Governor.

Communities and leaders across the state are calling on Governor Brown to take action to keep families united and place reasonable limitations on deportations.

KJ