Laserfiche WebLink
AB 937 <br /> Page 5 <br />Telecommunications System (CLETS), where otherwise permitted by state law. (Section <br />7284.6 (b).) <br />FISCAL EFFECT: As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal. <br />COMMENTS: This bill, the Voiding Inequality and Seeking Inclusion for Our Immigrant <br />Neighbors (VISION) Act, seeks to further the priorities of the State of California by prohibiting <br />all public resources, including all state and local government agency personnel, facilities, and <br />equipment, from being used to assist with the arrest, confinement, detention, transfer, <br />interrogation, or deportation of an individual for an immigration enforcement purpose . <br />Specifically, this bill would prohibit all state and local agencies (including law enforcement <br />agencies and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) from doing any of the <br />following: <br />1) Arresting or assisting with the arrest, confinement, detention, transfer, interrogation, or <br />deportation of an individual for an immigration enforcement purpose in any manner , <br />including the following: <br />a) N otifying another agency or subcontractor thereof regarding the release date a nd time of <br />an individual, releasing or transferring an individual into the custody of another age ncy or <br />subcontractor thereof. <br />b) Disclosing personal information about an individual, including, but not limited to, an <br />individual’s date of birth, work address, home address, or parole or probation check in <br />date and time to another agency or subcontractor thereof. <br />2) Using immigration status as a factor to deny or to recommend denial of probation or <br />participation in any diversion, rehabilitation, mental health program, or placement in a credit- <br />earning program or class, or to determine custodial classification level, to deny mandatory <br />supervision, or to lengthen the portion of supervision served in custody. <br />These prohibitions would apply, according to the bill, notwithstanding any contrary provisions in <br />existing law—specifically including those in the California Values Act--which allow for state <br />and local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration authorities under <br />certain specified and limited circumstances. <br />The bill is therefore more restrictive than the Values Act in several ways . First, the bill prohibits <br />disclosure or release of personal information about detainees to federal immigration authorities, <br />even when the information is available to the public. Second, it prohibits the transfer of detainees <br />to federal immigration, including in cases where there has been a probable cause determination <br />and those in which the detainee has been convicted of one or more crimes specified in the Values <br />Act; and third, it applies to the California Department of Rehabilitation, and all state and local <br />government agencies, as well as all other state and local law enforcement agencies . Finally, in <br />order to help enforce its restrictions, the bill imposes civil liability on public agencies and <br />employees for violating its provisions. <br />Author’s Statement. According to the author, the greater protections offered by this bill because <br />of a well-documented history of immigration enforcement authorities abusing individuals who <br />are in their custody: