California Weighs Bills To Protect Immigrants Under Trump Presidency
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California lawmakers are planning to introduce bills starting Monday to help protect immigrants from an expected increase in immigration enforcement under President-elect Donald Trump.
State lawmakers are expected to introduce a resolution committing California to protecting its immigrant population and bills to provide attorneys to immigrants in deportation proceedings and help public defenders weigh the immigration consequences of criminal convictions.
The moves come as the nation's most populous state - which is home to more than 10 million foreign-born residents - prepares for tougher immigration enforcement promised by Trump during the presidential campaign.
Immigrant advocates say state bills are also being considered to further limit federal immigration enforcement in the state and protect immigrants' information in state databases.
Both houses of the California Legislature have Democratic supermajorities, controlling two-thirds of the seats in the Assembly and Senate.
The state is home to nearly 2.4 million immigrants without legal status, according to estimates by the Washington-based Pew Research Center.
In recent years, California has passed a series of measures to assist and protect immigrants in the country illegally, for example, limiting the cases when local law enforcement can turn over immigrant arrestees to federal authorities for deportation.
California offers state-subsidized health care to children from low income families who are in the country illegally and issues driver's licenses regardless of legal status.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.