SACRAMENTO | Thu Jul 5, 2012 10:18pm EDT
SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - The California Senate on Thursday passed a bill supporters dub the "anti-Arizona" law, which seeks to shield illegal immigrants from status checks by local police and challenges Republican-backed immigration crackdowns in other U.S. states.
The Democrat-led state Senate voted 21 to 13 for the California Trust Act, which blocks local police from referring a detainee to immigration officials for deportation unless that person has been convicted of a violent or serious felony.
The bill has the backing of about 100 immigrant rights groups, police chiefs and mayors.
It has already passed the state Assembly in a 47-26 vote. It will go back to the Assembly for a concurrence vote following the summer recess before heading to Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat.
The measure seeks to create a national model to counter what backers say is racial profiling inherent in the part of Arizona's anti-immigrant law allowed to stand by the U.S. Supreme Court last week.
It also seeks to push back against a federal program called Secure Communities, which shares the same principles as Arizona's law, supporters say.
"Today's vote signals to the nation that California cannot afford to be another Arizona," Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a Democrat who sponsored the measure, said in a statement.
"The bill also limits unjust and onerous detentions for deportation in local jails of community members who do not pose a threat to public safety," he added.
In passing the law, California stands apart from not only Arizona, but also Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah, which have all adopted strict laws in the past two years to try to discourage illegal immigrants from settling in their states.
On June 25, the top U.S. court upheld the most controversial aspect of Arizona's immigration statute: a requirement that police officers check the immigration status of people they stop, even for minor offenses such as jay-walking.
Opponents have argued that Arizona's law could lead to illegal racial or ethnic profiling of Hispanics in the state, while backers say it is needed because the federal government has failed to secure the border with Mexico.
California has the largest population of undocumented immigrants in the United States, with nearly 2.6 million at the start of 2010, according to government figures.
The California State Sheriff's Association, which opposes the bill, argued that state and local authorities cannot opt out of the Secure Communities program.
It argues that the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency focuses on only the most serious cases involving convicted criminals and repeat offenders.
(Reporting by Mary Slosson; writing by Tim Gaynor; editing by Todd Eastham)
SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - The California Senate on Thursday passed a bill supporters dub the "anti-Arizona" law, which seeks to shield illegal immigrants from status checks by local police and challenges Republican-backed immigration crackdowns in other U.S. states.
The Democrat-led state Senate voted 21 to 13 for the California Trust Act, which blocks local police from referring a detainee to immigration officials for deportation unless that person has been convicted of a violent or serious felony.
The bill has the backing of about 100 immigrant rights groups, police chiefs and mayors.
It has already passed the state Assembly in a 47-26 vote. It will go back to the Assembly for a concurrence vote following the summer recess before heading to Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat.
The measure seeks to create a national model to counter what backers say is racial profiling inherent in the part of Arizona's anti-immigrant law allowed to stand by the U.S. Supreme Court last week.
It also seeks to push back against a federal program called Secure Communities, which shares the same principles as Arizona's law, supporters say.
"Today's vote signals to the nation that California cannot afford to be another Arizona," Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a Democrat who sponsored the measure, said in a statement.
"The bill also limits unjust and onerous detentions for deportation in local jails of community members who do not pose a threat to public safety," he added.
In passing the law, California stands apart from not only Arizona, but also Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah, which have all adopted strict laws in the past two years to try to discourage illegal immigrants from settling in their states.
On June 25, the top U.S. court upheld the most controversial aspect of Arizona's immigration statute: a requirement that police officers check the immigration status of people they stop, even for minor offenses such as jay-walking.
Opponents have argued that Arizona's law could lead to illegal racial or ethnic profiling of Hispanics in the state, while backers say it is needed because the federal government has failed to secure the border with Mexico.
California has the largest population of undocumented immigrants in the United States, with nearly 2.6 million at the start of 2010, according to government figures.
The California State Sheriff's Association, which opposes the bill, argued that state and local authorities cannot opt out of the Secure Communities program.
It argues that the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency focuses on only the most serious cases involving convicted criminals and repeat offenders.
(Reporting by Mary Slosson; writing by Tim Gaynor; editing by Todd Eastham)
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