California Attorney General (AG) Rob Bonta has joined a growing list of Democratic leaders vowing to oppose President-elect Donald Trump and border chief Tom Homan’s mass deportation plans.
Last week, Bonta issued new guidance to courts, health centers, universities, schools, labor centers, public libraries and shelters, requiring federal agencies to adopt policies to counter Trump’s “brutal” and “humane” immigration enforcement actions.
“My office will continue to use the power of law and every tool at our disposal to protect the rights of California immigrants — and we need workers in these critical areas to do the same,” Bonta said. “We will not allow Trump’s deportation machine to create a culture of fear and distrust that prevents immigrants from accessing essential public services.”
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta. (Loren Elliott/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
According to the California AG’s office, the guidance sets forth model policies and recommendations that “guide public agencies in complying with California law limiting state and local participation in immigration enforcement activities.”
“In California, we believe that our public services, such as libraries, hospitals, courts and schools should be available to everyone without fear of immigration enforcement,” Bonta said during a press event announcing the guidelines. “The policy models we provide to public agencies … provide policy recommendations that may reduce disruptions to immigration enforcement actions at federal agencies.”
The guidance directs state agencies to a 2017 law called the “California Heritage Act” that the AG’s office said, “prevents local and state law enforcement agencies from assisting with immigration enforcement, with limited exceptions.”
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Migrants are processed by US Border Patrol near Jacumba Hot Springs after crossing the US-Mexico border on June 13, 2024 in San Diego. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)
Bonta’s guidance includes prohibiting the “unauthorized” collection or disclosure of information “that may indicate an individual’s or family’s nationality or immigration status,” and halting the policy of always referring federal law enforcement officials to a designated person who “shall have authority.” to respond to requests related to immigration enforcement. “
“I want to emphasize that the California DOJ 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 agenda is complex and his rhetoric, xenophobic.”
Bonta, who immigrated to the US from the Philippines with her parents when she was 2 months old, also said Trump’s deportation plan “doesn’t make sense financially.” He called immigrants “the backbone of our nation.”
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A group of adults and children migrants are smuggled across the Tijuana-San Diego border as they climb the wall to seek asylum in the United States in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, June 7, 2024. (Carlos Moreno/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Kevin McCarthy, former speaker of the House and a member of the California congress, told Fox News that California politicians like Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom is costing California taxpayers huge sums of money for making the state a “magnet” for illegal immigrants.
“He’s going to give them free health care, I mean he’s denying some things to California citizens but not to illegal immigrants that’s why we’re attracting so many and it’s so expensive, we’re so short in California,” said McCarthy.
McCarthy said Bonta’s move was an attempt to “make a name for himself” in Democratic politics despite concerns about illegal immigration and violent crime by illegal immigrants playing a major role in Trump’s 2024 White House return.
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference where he signed legislation related to oil and gas oversight, and public protection Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 in Los Angeles. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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“These attorneys general should take a deep breath, listen to what the American public is saying and understand that immigration was one of the biggest reasons why Donald Trump won, and it was not a Republican issue, [it was] Republican and Democrat too,” he said.
He pointed to the election of Nathan Hochman as Los Angeles County District Attorney, who he said was “elected largely because we’ve watched crime run rampant.”
“As the Attorney General, your job is to protect your citizens. Why don’t you want these gang members, I mean these brutal criminals and they were running the fentanyl drugs that are killing your children, why do you want them out? I think that would be your job without the president doing it,” said McCarthy. “People want to see something else is happening, especially with this chief prosecutor.”
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