The Asian Law Caucus (ALC), a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, and other civil rights groups have launched an online petition to urge Governor Jerry Brown to sign the TRUST Act (AB 1081-Ammiano), legislation that would place limits on the detention of California residents for immigration by local police.
On July 5th, the California State Senate approved the TRUST Act, a bill co-sponsored by ALC that would create a national model to guard against racial profiling by not allowing individuals to be held in local jails purely for immigration reasons unless the individual has a serious or violent felony conviction. This statewide standard would reduce responses to ICE detainers, which are voluntary requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) asking police to detain people for deportation.
“The Senate passage of the TRUST Act is a victory not just for immigrants or for Asian American or Latino communities, but for all Americans,” said Hyeon-Ju Rho, ALC executive director. “Local police should not be entangled with federal civil immigration enforcement. It unfairly burdens already limited local resources and encourages racial profiling.”
The TRUST Act seeks to counter damage done by ICE’s controversial "Secure Communities" deportation program, or S-Comm. Since 2010, ALC has collaborated with local, state, and national civil rights coalitions to push back against S-Comm’s implementation in the Bay Area.
The TRUST Act heads back to the State Assembly for a concurrence vote after summer recess, and then will go to Governor Jerry Brown for consideration.
The bill is supported by more than 100 local officials and community groups, including California Catholic Conference, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Police Chiefs of Oakland, and Palo Alto.
If you also support the bill, please consider signing the petition:
http://action.altoarizona.com/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=11192
