California Legislature Passes Sweeping Immigration Bill

The California state legislature on Saturday passed a comprehensive “sanctuary state” immigration bill that protects immigrants in the state without legal US residency and limits state and local law enforcement agencies from communicating with federal immigration authorities.

SB 54 prevents police officers from questioning or detaining people on civil immigration violations, and is the nation’s strictest bill in limiting federal immigration officials from immigration enforcement.

The bill allows local corrections officials to hand over undocumented immigrants with criminal convictions to immigration officials.

California governor is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming weeks. The move is expected to cause conflict between the state and the US Justice Department (DOJ). The DOJ, led by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has threatened to slash federal grants to state and local jurisdictions - so called sanctuary cities - that make it harder for state and local officials to cooperate with federal immigration officials.