CA Sanctuary State (AB 54) The "California Values Act" - Bad Politics Meets Actual Cowardice

Do You Trust People who Knowingly and Blatantly Lie Directly To Your Face? Then Why Would You Elect Such People?

AB54 - Sanctuary State

CA State Senator Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) spearheaded the Sanctuary State bill in California (he is running for Senate to unseat "moderate" Diane Feinstein (D-CA). Why make such a political move? He feels confident that supporting illegals is the path to be elected as a Senator for California.

In order to understand that why AB54 (the Sanctuary State Bill) is only politics and not championing immigrants as he says, you have to understand how he drafted his bill. Once you understand Federal Law and AB54 you will see that the "Sanctuary State" law has no effect and the CA politicians either KNOW that and are attempting to gain on your ignorance or are so incompetent that they should never be allowed to pass another Bill.

I won't post AB54, but will link to the entire Bill at the end of this post. Here is the legislative summary of the Bill:

SB 54, De León. Law enforcement: sharing data.

Existing law provides that when there is reason to believe that a person arrested for a violation of specified controlled substance provisions may not be a citizen of the United States, the arresting agency shall notify the appropriate agency of the United States having charge of deportation matters.

This bill would repeal those provisions.

8 U.S. Code § 1324 - Federal Immigration Law

In order to put the Bill in context, you must use Federal law since it is controlling on the subject of immigration. 8 U.S. Code § 1324 (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1324)

The key concept to understand is that in 1996 Congress made it a crime to shelter or harbor illegal immigrants. This includes conspiring to help illegals stay in the country (as AB54 on it face does). This means if a person (politician) acts in a way to conceals or shields illegals from Federal detection (passes a sanctuary law) then they can be prosecuted up to LIFE IN PRISON, depending on the harm done by the illegal.

Don't take my word for it (although I am a lawyer), here is the text of the Federal Law (with MY emphasis added):

(A)Any person who—

(iii)knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation;

(iv)encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law; or

(v)
(I)engages in any conspiracy to commit any of the preceding acts, or
(II)aids or abets the commission of any of the preceding acts, shall be punished as provided in subparagraph (B).*

(B)A person who violates subparagraph (A) shall, for each alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs—

(i)in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i) or (v)(I) or in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), or (iv) in which the offense was done for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain, be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both;

(ii)in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), (iv), or (v)(II), be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both;

(iii)in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) during and in relation to which the person causes serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 of title 18) to, or places in jeopardy the life of, any person, be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both; and

(iv)in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) resulting in the death of any person, be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined under title 18, or both.

California Values

So after reading the Bill and Federal law, what is the actual effect of the Bill? Really, nothing, if you interpret the letter of the law. Why is that you ask? First and foremost the law starts by making a HUGE exception by stating: "The bill would apply those provisions to the circumstances in which a law enforcement official has discretion to cooperate with immigration authorities."

Guess what? Federal law makes it a crime not to cooperate, so where is the Jailer's discretion?

In case the "catchall" cooperation discretion loophole is somehow not enough, in the body of the law there is a dizzying exception (read:loophole) that makes nearly any crime committed reportable. The list of crimes is vast and ranges from use of threats, use of weapons, drugs, drunk driving, sex offenses, criminal vandalism, elder abuse, hate crimes, stalking, any prior convictions or record.... you get the picture, it might as well say if the illegal immigrant commits "any crime" then we must cooperate with the Federal government.

Why is this Political Cowardice?

These politicians drafted a law that they KNOW has no effect and proclaim they are defending illegals and are part of the #resistance. This actually does tow things: (1) gives illegal immigrants a false sense of security in CA; and(2) brings more ICE enforcement to CA. Don't believe me, look at the video below:

I am ashamed that the "leaders" in my state would be so deceptive to the very people they are sworn to protect. You shouldn't have to have a law degree to know that you are being duped. However, I have faith in the common person that they know in their heart of hearts this is all political and does nothing to solve the problem or advance any "California Values"

Conclusion

We need to work as a country to decide how to solve this multi-decade problem of our own creation. I am not advocating for either position (removal or amnesty) but simply an honest dialogue as to what is the best solution for our current situation and future policies. Stop the politics and get results!

References

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB54

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1324

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-california-sanctuary-state-bill-20170916-story.html