A mere 24 hours after signing into law a ban on private prisons and the detention of immigrants in for-profit prison facilities, California Gov. Gavin Newsom approved a batch of bills designed to normalize illegal aliens by giving them expanded “rights” and protections under state law.
“While Trump attacks and disparages immigrants, California is working to ensure that every resident – regardless of immigration status – is given respect and the opportunity to contribute,” said Newsom at a Saturday signing ceremony.
What California is actually working toward is the normalization of illegal immigrants by amending and creating laws to hide lawbreakers in plain sight. What Newsom and the California legislature are doing more than giving illegal aliens “respect,” but giving them protection from the consequences of breaking the law, which is a far more valuable commodity to them.
Under one new law, using noncriminal information from state telecommunications databases for immigration enforcement purposes is now prohibited. While another would ban arrests for immigration violations at courthouses across the state, which could face court challenge given the broad authority granted to immigration enforcement authorities under federal law.
Another bill, AB 1645, makes it a requirement for all 115 colleges in the California Community College system to designate a staff member as a “Dream Resource Liaison,” whose duty it will be to help illegal alien and other immigrant students obtain financial aid and other resources.
According to EdSource, the new requirement is estimated to cost $2.9 million, but no additional funding has actually been allocated to implement it.
The “reality is that colleges are being mandated to implement with no new resources. We hope, and will continue to encourage, colleges to identify existing funds or leverage philanthropic dollars to accomplish this work,” says Laura Metune, vice chancellor of governmental relations for the community college system. Of course, those “existing funds” were intended to serve the needs of residents and legal immigrant students.
But interfering with immigration enforcement agents and spending limited taxpayer dollars on illegal aliens was not enough. The most open border of open-border states also moved to further undermine federal immigration law by opening up seats on state government boards and commissions to illegal aliens.
In the warped world of California, it appears to be appropriate for individuals who have shown no respect for federal law to hold a place on the Commission on Judicial Performance. Yes, illegal aliens might not only serve on a commission created to “protect the public, enforce rigorous standards of judicial conduct and maintain public confidence in the integrity and independent of the judicial system,” they could be paid for it.
Approved by the California legislature in September, SB 225 provides that any “person appointed to civil office, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, may receive any form of compensation that the person is not otherwise prohibited from receiving pursuant to federal law.”
Considering the employment of an illegal alien is a clear violation of federal law, it remains unclear how the state plans to pay them. But there is no question that California will spend their time and effort to serve the interests of those “regardless of immigration status” residents.