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Asian Law Caucus Applauds
CA Senate's Passage of the TRUST Act
SACRAMENTO - On July 5, 2012, the California State Senate approved the TRUST Act (AB 1081-Ammiano) by a vote of 21-13. Asm. Tom Ammiano (D-SF) is the bill's author; Sen. Kevin de León (D - LA) served as floor manager for the vote and presented the bill to the Senate.
"The Senate passage of the TRUST Act is a victory not just for immigrants or for Asian American or Latino communities, but for all Americans," says Hyeon-Ju Rho, Executive Director of the Asian Law Caucus, a co-sponsor of the bill. "Local police should not be entangled with federal civil immigration enforcement. It unfairly burdens already limited local resources and encourages racial profiling."
The Asian Law Caucus, a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, has collaborated with local, state, and national civil rights coalitions to push back against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)'s mis-named "Secure Communities" deportation program, or S-Comm, since 2010 when the program was implemented in the Bay Area.
In response to the bill's passage, Angela Chan, Senior Staff Attorney at the Asian Law Caucus, said, "Our State Senate has stepped up to the plate and set a national example. Instead of the cruel, discriminatory legislation in Arizona, the California Senate advanced a common-sense solution to prevent profiling, keep families together, and protect immigrant witnesses and survivors of crimes. Ultimately, we are all safer when we foster transparency and trust between all communities and our local police."
The TRUST Act heads back to the State Assembly for a concurrence vote after summer recess, following which the bill would reach the Governor's desk.
The bill 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 2b 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 bill also 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.
The TRUST Act was originally drafted as a response to the federal S-Comm deportation program which was described as a parallel to SB1070, Section (2b) in the Supreme Court case and has been responsible for deporting over 75,000 Californians. Seven 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 survivors of domestic violence in deportation proceedings and deterring parents from reporting crimes committed against their children.
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 over 100 local officials and community organizations.
Please ask Governor Brown to sign the TRUST Act.
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The Asian Law Caucus was founded in 1972 as the nation's first legal and civil rights Asian American organization. Recognizing that social, economic, political and racial inequalities continue to exist in the United States, ALC is committed to the pursuit of equality and justice for all sectors of our society, with a specific focus directed toward addressing the needs of low-income, immigrant and underserved Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The Asian Law Caucus is a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice. For more information, please visit http://asianlawcaucus.org.
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