CA Republican lawmakers push to weaken immigrant sanctuary policies with newly proposed bill
California Republican lawmakers are proposing SB554, which would weaken the state’s sanctuary law for immigrants.
Friday, February 21, 2025
SAN FRANCISCO — The Trump Administration continues to target the undocumented community across the country with new immigration policies and deportations.
California has long been considered a sanctuary for all, especially immigrants and their families.
But a group of Republican lawmakers believe certain laws protecting these communities have gone too far.
They are now proposing legislation that would weaken the state’s sanctuary law.
“The Safety Before Criminal Sanctuary Act is a common sense measure, a simple reform to tighten up California’s sanctuary state policy in favor of better public safety,” said CA Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones.
The proposed bill would amend the state’s landmark sanctuary bill, SB54, which prohibits local and state resources from assisting in immigration enforcement–with some exceptions for immigrants convicted of certain crimes.
SB554 will prevent local agencies from creating laws that go beyond current state protections.
That is the case in San Francisco, where leaders have narrowed the list of cases in which law enforcement could cooperate with immigration officials on.
The proposed new bill also mandates cooperation for specific violent crimes.
“SB 554 will absolutely allow law enforcement to make sure that we are able to prevent child molesters, rapists, murderers, robbers who victimize us from being released into our communities,” said Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
The proposed bill rolls back on the state’s landmark sanctuary bill, which San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Asst. Chief Attorney Angela Chan helped draft.
Chan says the 10th Amendment protects against these mandates, and it’s one of the reasons she thinks the latest attempt to reform her policy will fail again.
“Almost every county in the Bay Area has stronger policies than SB54,” Chan said. “None of these counties are going to want to roll back their policies, so they are going to vigorously oppose a bill like this. That’s really why this bill is dead in the water.”
The SB554 press conference was met with opposition, as were other Trump administration immigration policies.
Here in the Bay Area, San Francisco and Santa Clara are among the counties suing over laws that they say are unconstitutional.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg told us in a statement that SB554 attacks immigrants, the bedrock of our community and that policies like SB554 “stand in sharp contrast to the philosophy and ideology of Santa Clara County, which has supported our immigrant community and will continue to do so even as the race-baiting political rhetoric worsens.”
San Jose City Councilmember Peter Ortiz says the city will continue to support the backbone of our society and economy against future threats.
“I just challenge Republicans, whether it’s on the local, state or federal level. How will our society run without these individuals who they seem to have scapegoated and demonized?” Ortiz said.
SB554 would need Democratic support and a sign from Gov. Gavin Newsom before becoming law.
This article was originally published by ABC7 San Francisco.