California Attorney General (AG) Rob Bonta has joined the growing list of Democratic leaders vowing to resist President-elect Donald Trump and border czar Tom Homan's mass deportation plans.
Last week, Bonta issued new guidelines for courts, health care facilities, universities, schools, labor agencies, public libraries and shelters, challenging state agencies to enforce President Trump's “draconian” and “inhumane” immigration enforcement. urged the adoption of policies to resist
“My office will continue to use the full force of the law and every tool at our disposal to protect the rights of California immigrants, and we need staff in these critical places to do the same.” ,” Bonta said. “We cannot allow President Trump’s deportation machine to create a culture of fear and mistrust that prevents immigrants from accessing critical public services.”
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta; (Lauren Elliott/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
According to the California AG's office, the guidance provides model policies and recommendations to “guide public agencies to comply with California laws that limit state and local participation in immigration enforcement activities.”
“In California, we believe that public resources such as libraries, hospitals, courthouses, and schools should be available to all without fear of private immigration enforcement,” Bonta said at a press conference announcing the guidelines. said. “The model policy we are issuing to public institutions provides policy recommendations that may reduce the disruption of immigration enforcement in public institutions.”
The guidance directs state agencies to: A 2017 law called the “California Values Act.” The AG's office said it “prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from assisting in immigration enforcement, with limited exceptions.”
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Migrants are processed by U.S. Border Patrol near Jacumba Hot Springs after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego on June 13, 2024. (Qian Weizhong/VCG, via Getty Images)
Bonta's guidelines include a prohibition on the “unauthorized” collection or disclosure of information that “could indicate the citizenship or immigration status of an individual or family,” as well as a ban on the “unauthorized” collection or disclosure of information that “could indicate the citizenship or immigration status of an individual or family,” as well as a ban on “authorized” federal law enforcement officers at all times. This includes establishing a policy to refer to designated persons. This is to respond to requests related to immigration enforcement. ”
“I want to emphasize that the California Department of Justice is here to protect the safety of immigrants, the freedom of immigrants, and the rights of immigrants,” Bonta said. “Let me be clear: President-elect Trump's immigration policies are tough and his rhetoric xenophobic.”
Bonta, who immigrated to the United States from the Philippines with her parents when she was two months old, also called Trump's deportation plan “fiscally irresponsible.” He called immigrants “the backbone of our country.”
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A group of adults and children climb a wall to seek asylum in the United States as they are smuggled across the Tijuana-San Diego border in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, June 7, 2024. (Carlos Moreno/Anadolu via Getty Images)
kevin mccarthyThe former California House speaker and congressman told Fox News that California politicians like Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom have made the state a “magnet” for illegal immigration and are undermining California taxpayers. He said it was causing huge losses to people.
“He's going to give them free health care. So he's going to deny certain things to Californians, but not to illegal immigrants. That's why we're bringing in so many people. And that costs a lot of money, and California has a huge deficit,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said Bonta's actions were an attempt to “make a name for himself” in Democratic politics, despite concerns about illegal immigration and violent crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, who could play a key role in Trump's bid to take back the White House in 2024. He said that this is an attempt to do so.
Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference signing the Oil and Gas Well Oversight and Community Protection Act on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Jason Almond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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“These attorneys general should take a deep breath, listen to the American people, and understand that immigration is one of the main reasons President Donald Trump won, and it's not a Republican issue. [it was] Republicans and Democrats alike,” he said.
He cited the election of Nathan Hochman as Los Angeles County District Attorney, saying, “He was elected overwhelmingly because we saw the crime going on.”
“As Attorney General, your job is to protect the public. Why wouldn't you want these gang members, I mean, these are ruthless gang members, they're going to give you the drug fentanyl and kill your children?” “Why don't you want to get rid of them when they are killing them?” I think that's your job, even if you don't have to do it for the president,'' McCarthy said. “People want something to happen, especially from this attorney general.”
