Posted on 07/05/2012 8:15:57 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - The California Senate on Thursday passed a bill supporters dub the "anti-Arizona" law, which seeks to shield illegal immigrants from status checks by local police and challenges Republican-backed immigration crackdowns in other U.S. states.
The Democrat-led state Senate voted 21 to 13 for the California Trust Act, which blocks local police from referring a detainee to immigration officials for deportation unless that person has been convicted of a violent or serious felony.
The bill has the backing of about 100 immigrant rights groups, police chiefs and mayors.
It has already passed the state Assembly in a 47-26 vote. It will go back to the Assembly for a concurrence vote following the summer recess before heading to Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat.
The measure seeks to create a national model to counter what backers say is racial profiling inherent in the part of Arizona's anti-immigrant law allowed to stand by the U.S. Supreme Court last week.
It also seeks to push back against a federal program called Secure Communities, which shares the same principles as Arizona's law, supporters say.
"Today's vote signals to the nation that California cannot afford to be another Arizona," Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a Democrat who sponsored the measure, said in a statement.
"The bill also limits unjust and onerous detentions for deportation in local jails of community members who do not pose a threat to public safety," he added.
In passing the law, California stands apart from not only Arizona, but also Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah, which have all adopted strict laws in the past two years to try to discourage illegal immigrants from settling in their states.
On June 25, the top U.S. court upheld the most controversial aspect of Arizona's immigration statute..
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Emanuel wants to make Chicago more immigrant-friendly
The South is a nice place to live.
Now that's a lot of welfare and a lot of people.
Don't they care out there? Something ought to be done.
BTW, this bill is doing nothing but destroying all the property values in California. It's probably too late to sell out for most folks there ~ like what would you get for a home these days ~ but if you have a working motor vehicle and can afford a couple of tanks of gas it looks like it is probably time to flee!
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