It’s been more than a year since federal immigration agents first descended upon California en masse. Across the country, immigration-related arrests by federal agents haven’t stopped — nor have efforts by California lawmakers to pass legislation in response to such actions.
More than two dozen bills related to immigration are making their way through the state legislative process.
Some would make it harder for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Border Patrol agents to operate in California or aim to regulate their conduct. Others examine conditions at detention facilities or address private companies and other organizations that contract with or are viewed as having some affiliation, either directly or indirectly, with ICE operations.
Related: California lawmakers are pushing various immigration-related bills this year. Track them here
You can read about them on our immigration-related state bills tracker, which we’ll update throughout the legislative session.
In the meantime, we’re highlighting a few to give you a sense of the breadth of legislation that has been proposed. The following bills all passed out of the Senate in May and are scheduled to be taken up by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, Aug. 5.
Face mask ban
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill last year barring federal immigration agents from wearing ski masks or other face coverings to hide their identities, but a judge blocked that law from taking effect, finding it discriminated against federal law enforcement since the ban did not apply to state law enforcement agents.
As a result, Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, introduced SB 1004, amending his previous bill by including state officers in the mask ban.
“ICE and Border Patrol are covering their faces to maximize their terror campaign and to insulate themselves from accountability. We won’t let them get away with it,” Wiener said the day of the judge’s ruling, when he pledged to return with amended legislation.
Use of flashbang grenades
SB 937 would severely limit local, state and federal law enforcement agents’ use of military-style flashbang grenades and explosive breaching devices to control crowds at protests taking place within 300 feet of a school zone, park or other area where kids are visibly present.
It also would ban the use of such devices in immigration enforcement activities in most cases and would require public reporting when these grenades are used.
“The military-style violence being used against our communities must stop. There is no justification and no safety in using flashbangs and explosives against peaceful protesters and people who pose no threat,” Sen. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach, said when she introduced the legislation earlier this year.
Conditions in detention facilities
The Masuma Khan Justice Act is named for an immigrant from Bangladesh who lives in Altadena and whose husband and daughter are U.S. citizens. The Eaton fire survivor was detained by federal immigration officials during a check-in appointment and reportedly held in a detention facility without warm clothes, proper food or access to critical medication until a judge ordered her release late last year.
SB 995, which bears Khan’s name, would authorize the California Department of Public Health to inspect private detention facilities to ensure they meet sanitary, hygienic and safety standards. The inspectors would evaluate a number of factors, including pest control, air quality and ventilation and whether detainees have access to water and proper nutrition.
Operators would have to correct deficiencies or face fines of up to $25,000 per day per violation, depending on the violation, and risk the suspension or revocation of their operating permits.
Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Pasadena, the bill’s author, expressed gratitude after the Senate voted unanimously in May to approve it.
“With a strong and unified voice, the California State Senate has declared that this is not a partisan issue, but an urgent human rights concern,” she said at the time. “This bill is rooted in the simple principle that if detention centers operate in California, they must meet California’s standards.”
Speaking of detention facilities, another bill, SB 1367, would prohibit cities and counties from approving new land uses that would enable detention facilities to be built, or that would change an existing building’s use permit so that it can be used as a detention center.
“California has a responsibility to ensure that its land use policies do not enable human rights abuses, including the repurposing of warehouses to detention centers,” said Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, the bill’s author.
ICE at large retail stores
The Responsible Enterprise and Public Accounting of Immigration Raids (REPAIR) Act, also authored by Pérez, would require large retail stores where federal immigration activities have occurred to provide the California attorney general with documentation, including video footage, when such incidents occur on their premise, if subpoenaed. These stores also would need to provide the county where they’re located with similar access.
A “large retail store” is defined in this bill as a business entity with 50 or more stores in the state with an average of 100,000 square feet or more of enclosed space.
Although The Home Depot isn’t specifically named in the bill, representatives for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, a sponsor of SB 1103, have mentioned the big-box home improvement store when talking about the legislation. Over the past year, a number of ICE raids have taken place in the parking lots of Home Depot stores where day laborers often go to seek work.
The Home Depot, for its part, has repeatedly maintained that the company doesn’t get involved in immigration enforcement operations.
The company’s website states its commitment “to maintaining a welcoming environment for everyone” and says it doesn’t coordinate with ICE or other federal agencies on immigration enforcement. At the same time, the company notes its stores and parking lots are publicly accessible and, therefore, law enforcement agents don’t need a warrant to enter the premises.
Under SB 1103, stores covered by the legislation would be required to post on their websites whether they have policies governing interaction between employees and agents or federal immigration authorities and whether the stores provide surveillance data to federal immigration authorities or to other agencies that then provide that data to federal authorities.