News

L.A. Police Chief Charlie Beck endorses 'sanctuary state' bill that Eric Holder hails as 'constitutional'

June 19, 2017

Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck for the first time offered his full support for a bill that would prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from carrying out immigration laws, calling it an important proposal that protects the trust between his department and the neighborhoods it polices.

Eric Holder, LAPD chief say ‘sanctuary state’ bill will restore trust between immigrants, police

June 19, 2017

Los Angeles Daily News 

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and State Sen. Kevin de León voiced their support Monday in downtown Los Angeles for de León’s bill that would limit local and state law enforcement assistance with federal immigration action in California.

Senate Bill 54, named the California Values Act, was approved by the state Senate in April and is still moving through the state Assembly.

‘Dreamers’ to Stay in U.S. for Now, but Long-Term Fate Is Unclear

June 16, 2017

The New York Times

President Trump will not immediately eliminate protections for the so-called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as small children, according to new memorandums issued by the administration Thursday night.

But White House officials said Friday morning that Mr. Trump had not made a decision about the long-term fate of the program and might yet follow through on a campaign pledge to take away work permits from the immigrants or deport them.

ICE nabs teenager hours before his senior prom, days before his graduation ceremony

June 14, 2017

The Washington Post 

On the day of his senior prom, Diego Ismael Puma Macancela was cowering in a bedroom closet, hiding from immigration officers as they pounded on doors outside.

Puma Macancela, a 19-year-old high school student in Ossining, N.Y., expected the authorities would be looking for him. A day before, Immigration and Customs Enforcement had arrested and detained his mother, an undocumented Ecuadoran immigrant who entered the United States illegally with him two years ago.

ICE Agents Are Using Battlefield Surveillance Technology To Snoop On Cell Phones

June 14, 2017

The Huffington Post

A federal warrant unsealed in May reveals how immigration authorities are using an invasive cell phone snooping tool, known as a “Stingray,” once confined to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the first evidence of the device being used for immigration enforcement, and it highlights the need for greater transparency about how state and local police deploy similar tools.

ICE chief: All illegals 'should be worried, no population off the table'

June 13, 2017

The Washington Examiner

In a blunt warning to all 11 million undocumented immigrants, the acting chief of ICE said that anybody who cross the border illegally is subject to deportation.

"If you are in this country illegally, and you committed a crime by entering this country, you should be uncomfortable, you should should look over your shoulder, and you need to be worried," said Thomas D. Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

CA Senate Leader in Roundtable Discussion on SB 54

June 12, 2017

ABC 7

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The author of SB54 and a leading opponent of the measure appeared in a round-table discussion on Eyewitness Newsmakers.

California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon describes the bill he authored "The California Values Act," and says to describe it as a sanctuary state measure is a misnomer. He says the measure will prevent federal agents from rounding up undocumented prisoners in jails and deporting them, where they can return and commit more crime.