California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is planning to veto a new bill that would block state prisons from cooperating with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), per a report.
According to Fox News, Newsom’s office had sent a statement to Fox News Digital, stating the governor plans to nix the bill if it makes it to his desk.
Assembly bill 15, sponsored by Los Angeles Democrat Rep. Mike Gipson, states that “when California’s jails and prisons voluntarily and unnecessarily transfer immigrant and refugee community members eligible for release from state or local custody to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for immigration detention and deportation purposes, they subject these community members to double punishment and further trauma.”
“The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) shall not detain on the basis of a hold request, provide an immigration authority with release date information, or respond to a notification request, transfer to an immigration authority, or facilitate or assist with a transfer request any individual who is eligible for release,” the bill states.
Fox News further reported this is not the first time Newsom would veto a bill trying to stop ICE enforcement, after he nixed Assembly Bill 1306. Newsom wrote that the AB 1306 would have prohibited the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from doing their jobs.
“This bill prohibits the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from providing any information or responding to a request for coordination from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal law enforcement agency, regarding the imminent release of an incarcerated non-citizen, if the person is being released under specific circumstances,” Newsom wrote at the time.
“The bill would prevent information sharing and coordination upon a person’s release from CDCR custody for a significant number of people and, as a result, would impede CDCR’s interaction with a federal law enforcement agency charged with assessing public safety risks,” Newsom wrote. “I believe current law strikes the right balance on limiting interaction to support community trust and cooperation between law enforcement and local communities. For this reason, I cannot sign this bill.”
Newsom’s office further told Fox News Digital that since he became governor in 2019, more than 10,500 California inmates, which included rapists and murderers, had been transferred into ICE custody.
