When Senate Bill 54 was signed into law in 2017, California became a safe state.
The term “sanctuary city” is not legal. It grew over time as a reaction to actions and policies of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in recent years. A sanctuary city is usually a place where the local government has a policy, either written down or not, that tells police not to tell immigration officials about people unless they are investigating a major crime. But these sanctuary groups aren’t just in cities. Some cities and states, like California, have declared themselves to be safe havens.
But when President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January 2025, he has promised to start deporting a lot of illegal aliens right away.
Most of us already know that California Governor Gavin Newsom has started his fight against this action. He is getting ready to use state law to stop the Trump administration’s plans to remove a lot of people.
It says at https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2024/11/immigrant-deportation-california-trump/ that California can’t do much to stop the new administration’s plans.
Immigration experts say that there is a broad net that could catch almost anyone and put them in danger. However, some people are in more immediate danger than others. These people include non-citizens who have been in trouble with the law, the 1.3 million people across the country who have already been given final orders to leave the country, and illegal people who may live or work near the first two groups.
Nayna Gupta, policy head at the left-leaning American Immigration Council in Washington, D.C., said, “People who have been in trouble with the law will be given top priority.” “Under the current immigration law, that includes people who may have convictions from many years ago.” After a certain amount of time, the government can remove someone.
Even though the Governor has already said he will file cases to try to stop deportations in California, the state has clear limits that it must follow. Legal problems can be fought in court, but sanctuary laws say that local police can’t help immigration officials “unless required by a valid court order.” According to experts, the courts may have to deal with a lot of cases about what makes a court order legal. There was no lawsuit from Trump to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020, so California’s sanctuary law stood. This time, if the state can take the matter that far, they will hear a challenge. However, experts say that the state can’t do much to stop military troops from coming into California before the case is heard in court.
The president can make the National Guard part of the federal government and give them the power to do “military protective activities.”
Immigrants with old crime records could get a pardon from the Governor, which would keep them from being deported. One person who works for the public defender’s office in San Francisco said, “So far, in his six years in office, Governor Newsom has pardoned far fewer people than Governor Brown.”
Advocates are helping people across the state who are at risk of being detained or deported make emergency plans. These plans include who will pick up their kids from school and how to keep their assets safe in the United States. There are workshops called “Know Your Rights,” and friends are helping each other learn about their rights.
California doesn’t have much it can do about mass deportations that start on the first day of the new president’s office besides taking the case to the highest courts.
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