Item 21 - Assembly Bill 937 (the “VISION Act”)

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AB 937 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 20, 2021 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY Mark Stone, Chair AB 937 (Carrillo ) – As Amended March 22, 2021 As Proposed to be Amended SUBJECT: IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT KEY ISSUE: SHOULD SEVERAL PROVISIONS OF EXISTING LAW THAT LIMIT THE ABILITY OF STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMEN T TO COOPERATE AND SHARE INFORMATION WITH FEDERAL IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES BE STRENGTHENED AND EXPANDED SO THAT THEY, AMONG OTHER THINGS, ALSO APPLY TO ALL STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AS WELL AS THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORREC TIONS AND REHABILITATION ? SYNOPSIS This bill, the Voiding Inequality and Seeking Inclusion for Our Immigrant Neig hbors (VISION) Act, would prohibit all state and local agencies (including law enforcement agencies and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) from doing any of the following: 1) Arresting or assisting with the arrest, confinement, deten tion, transfer, interrogation, or deportation of an individual for an immigration enforcement purpose in any manner . 2) Using immigration status as a factor to deny or to recommend denial of probation or participation in any diversion, rehabilitation, mental health program, or placement in a credit -earning program or class, or to determine custodial classification level, to deny mandatory supervision, or to lengthen the portion of supervision served in custody. These prohibitions would apply, according to the bill, notwithstanding any contrary provisions in existing law —specifically including those in the California Values Act --which allow for state and local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration authorities under certain specified and limited circumstances. The analysis reviews the long history of ICE employing methods that range from inhumane to illegal, beginning at least as early as the Obama administration, worsening during the Trump administration, and continuing through today. Th e analysis explains why, even though the Values Act, current California law that limits law enforcement involvement in immigration enforcement activities, was adopted in reaction to the Trump administration’s particularly cruel policies, even greater restrictions on the use of public resources to assist ICE, as propo sed by the bill, are necessary. The analysis also addresses the fact that the bill does not amend or repeal the Values Act, but instead is a parallel statute, creating less than ideal clarity ab out how the two laws would interact. It discusses why the bill almost certainly does not violate the state constitution’s reenactment clause, but could possibly be subject to a conflict preemption challenge, Finally, the analysis discusses the fact that th e bill imposes civil liability on government employees and agencies for violating the bill’s prohibitions, an exception to the general rule of governmental immunity. In order to address the possible, but remote, concern that some aspects of the bill could raise conflict preemption concerns, the author proposes to make two clarifying amendments. First, the