LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Appearing with a host of state and local officials in downtown Los Angeles, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of legislation today that would restrict the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration.
Newsom signed five bills at the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, alongside LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, Mayor Karen Bass, County Supervisor Hilda Solis, Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach, and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
“We’re here in Los Angeles, the most diverse city in the most diverse state, California, in the world’s most diverse democracy. It is a point of pride. … At our best we don’t tolerate that diversity, at our best we celebrate that diversity,” Newsom said.
“…Our status is unique … it’s what makes California great. It’s what makes America great. And it’s under assault by this administration,” the governor continued.
“There’s a word that you’ve never heard uttered from the president of the United States’ lips, and certainly not (White House Deputy Chief of Staff) Stephen Miller, and that’s pluralism. We practice pluralism. It’s a deep point of pride. Those values are under assault, to a degree we could have never imagined.”
The bills include SB627, a ban on law enforcement agents wearing masks, SB805, a requirement that they visibly display identification, and a prohibition against bail fugitive recovery agents from using their position for immigration enforcement.
Two of the bills are specifically focused on public schools: SB98 requires K-12 schools and higher education institutions to notify parents, students and staff when immigration enforcement is confirmed on campus, and AB49 requires enforcement officers to obtain a valid judicial warrant and meet other requirements before entering a school or facility. It also prevents school officials from collecting immigration information and prohibits them from disclosing pupil or family information to immigration authorities without a warrant or court order.
Newsom also signed SB81, which restricts health-care facilities from sharing patient information or granting access to immigration enforcement.
Four of the bills go into effect immediately, while the masking law goes into effect in January.
“The fact that we need bills to protect people’s rights of privacy from information sharing, masking of federal agents — if they are federal agents — protecting kids so that they can come to school … all of this legislative resistance is to protect Angelenos from our own federal government,” Bass said. “That is profound.”
“… But what I’m so proud of in our city is that and we have legislative resistance, we have resistance from local government and state government, and we have resistance on the streets,” the mayor added.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli pushed back on the mask ban.
“The State of California has no jurisdiction over the federal government,” he posted on X. “If Newsom wants to regulate our agents, he must go through Congress. I’ve directed our federal agencies that the law signed today has no effect on our operations. Our agents will continue to protect their identities.”
Carvalho noted that the LAUSD has already taken steps to prepare for immigration enforcement affecting students, including sending students home with information packets with tips for dealing with questioning from federal agents and establishing “zones of protection” for safe passage to and from campuses.
“There are no sidewalks for immigrant children and sidewalks for everybody else. Everybody walks the same sidewalk of hope and opportunity to our school,” he said.
California Democrats have assailed the raids, which began in the Southland in June. They’ve accused agents of targeting people based on their race, and of detaining people without due process. They also say the raids have failed to live up to the administration’s promise to target those undocumented immigrants suspected of committing violent crimes.
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security have released the alleged criminal histories of many of the detained immigrants.
And appearing on Friday night’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” in Los Angeles, White House border czar Tom Homan said even those in the United States illegally who don’t commit other crimes create a backlog in the immigration system, delaying the process for thousands who are waiting their turn to come here legally.
“Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime,” Homan said. “If you send a message that there’s no consequences and you want to reward illegal behavior, (it’s) not going to stop.”
“… If you want to be a part of the greatest nation on Earth, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it,” he continued. “The ones who are here illegally cheated the system. They moved themselves to the front of the line and they overwhelmed the immigration court system back nine, 10 years, which means that people who are really trying to come here the right way are sitting in the back of the bus.”
Asked for a comment on Saturday’s signing ceremony, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson sent the following reply to City News Service:
“Did Newscum explain why he issued a threat to (Homeland Security) Secretary Noem on the same weekend of Charlie Kirk’s funeral, who was just assassinated in a disgusting act of political violence? Was that post from Newscum or the deranged leftists running his account?”
A post issued on the X account of Newsom’s press office a few hours before Saturday’s ceremony read: “Kristi Noem is going to have a bad day today. You’re welcome, America.”
That post drew the following response from Essayli:
“We have zero tolerance for direct or implicit threats against government officials. I’ve referred this matter to @SecretService and requested a full threat assessment.”
In response, Newsom’s office reposted that statement from Essayli alongside the following tweet from Trump posted on March 10, 2020, during that year’s Democratic presidential primaries: “Going to be a BAD day for Crazy Bernie!”