The Democratic-led Legislature’s efforts to shield immigrants from the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation efforts, and attacks on so-called sanctuary states, promise to be among the most contentious issues during a session expected to focus heavily on public safety.
Along with immigration, efforts to implement the tough-on-crime ballot measure approved by voters in November, Proposition 36, and funding its drug treatment component are expected to create the biggest rifts among Democratic and Republican lawmakers, while efforts to combat human trafficking may be among the concerns that both political parties could find common ground.
“Everyone in this building has heard the voters loud and clear,” Schultz said. “They don’t feel safe. But we can’t lose sight that our justice system needs to be just,” said Assemblymember Nick Schultz (D-Burbank), chair of his chamber’s public safety committee.
Schultz and his Democratic counterpart in the state Senate’s public safety committee, Jesse Arreguín (D-Berkeley), told The Times that they expect California lawmakers to fight to protect both Californians and their progressive ideology from aggressive attacks from the Trump administration, while focusing on recovery efforts from this year’s deadly wildfires and addressing voter concerns about crime.
President Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities and states such as California. The California Values Act, also known as Senate Bill 54, took effect in 2018 and limits how police in the state can work with federal immigration enforcement and also prevents police from investigating or arresting people for immigration enforcement purposes.
“I don’t understand what the issue is,” said Arreguín, chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee. “I think the law is clear, and I think the law struck a balance.”
Arreguín and Schultz expect Republicans and Democrats to agree on issues relating to human trafficking and cracking down on the sale of untraceable ghost guns but they probably will diverge on issues such as immigration.
SB 554 by Senate minority leader Brian W. Jones (R-Santee), is an effort to overhaul the sanctuary law. The bill aims to “ensure violent criminals are not shielded” from federal immigration authorities. The bill also would prohibit jurisdictions from adding more restrictions beyond what current sanctuary law allows. The Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn. of San Diego County supports the bill.
“This is a simple reform to tighten up California’s sanctuary state policy in favor of better public safety,” Jones said during a news conference this month.
Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R-Yucaipa), the bill’s co-author, said that making sure violent offenders are not shielded from federal authorities would create a “safer environment” for everyone, including other undocumented families.
Charis Kubrin, a criminology professor at UC Irvine whose research found that the state’s sanctuary state law did not cause an increase in crime, said she is concerned that crime policies are based on “moral panics and fear.”
“If we care about crime and want to enhance public safety, targeting immigration as the solution to the crime problem is a fool’s errand,” she said.
Under California’s sanctuary state law, local law enforcement can notify federal immigration agents of someone’s upcoming release. It also can transfer them to immigration custody if the person has certain convictions, including many felonies and higher-level misdemeanors. State prison officials have no limits regarding whom they can transfer to immigration custody, but they do have to give the person written notice.
The immigration bills brought forward by Democrats include Senate Bill 48, introduced by Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), which aims to strengthen protections for families with children in grades K-12 and impose regulations on federal immigration officials’ interactions with schools, protecting the sharing of a student’s data to federal officers without a warrant.
Arreguín’s Senate Bill 81 would restrict immigration officers’ access to hospitals and limit the information available to them.
“I believe very strongly that healthcare is a basic human right and that we should not prevent people from accessing critical healthcare because they’re afraid of being arrested and deported,” he said.
The chairs of both public safety committees also said implementing Proposition 36 will be one of the top priorities in the Legislature this year.
An overwhelming majority of voters in November passed the measure, which reforms a pivotal 2014 law that made some low-level, nonviolent property and drug crimes, including stealing merchandise valued at less than $950, misdemeanors instead of felonies.
Schultz, who before the Legislature spent time in the attorney general’s office and as mayor of Burbank, supports parts of Proposition 36, but he expressed concerns over its drug court component, especially the promise that individuals convicted of a third drug-related offense can choose treatment over jail. According to testimony during legislative hearings last month, some counties are unprepared for an expected influx of cases and lack the funding needed to support treatment.
Schultz said voters were sold on a promise that he is unsure can be fulfilled.
He has introduced a handful of bills, including two related to public safety that would give courts more authority to determine when to charge an individual with a misdemeanor and another that focuses on adult release and rehabilitation for parolees.
“Proposition 36 was presented as a potential solution. Will it be? I don’t know,” Arreguín said.
Arreguín, whose district includes Oakland, said rising crime is a major concern for his constituents, who want more policing and more accountability. He faces the challenge of balancing safety with the need to avoid backpedaling on prison reform.
“How do we keep our communities safe without going backward?” he asked.
The public safety bills introduced by Republicans include classifying the rape or sexual assault of a person who has a developmental disability as a violent felony, and adding Tianeptine, also known as “gas station heroin,” to the list of Schedule I substances, which means they have the highest potential for abuse and no accepted medical use.
In the last two years, Republican Assemblymember Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, a MAGA conservative, has earned political points after the passage of her two bills that created stiffer penalties for the selling and purchasing of child sex trafficking. This year, she is bringing back a third bill with co-author Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento), a former federal prosecutor. The proposed legislation would make it a crime to loiter with the intent to purchase sex and ensure that the crime of purchasing a minor for sex applies in any case where the victim is under 18.
Gun regulation will continue to be a top priority for legislators. Senate Bill 704, introduced by Arreguín, would regulate the sale of gun barrels to curb the rise of ghost guns. Arreguín emphasized that people are “getting creative” to evade current laws.
Both Arreguín and Schultz know they’re in for a “tough” assignment.