Senator Brian Jones to propose bill that would reform sanctuary state practices
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Senator Brian Jones is looking to propose a bill that would shake up current legislation that shapes California as a sanctuary state.
'My bill is a simple reform that begins to address some of the most egregious crimes that are being committed in our state by people that probably shouldn't be here,' Jones said.
Jones is not trying to do away with the state's sanctuary state law, rather propose what he believes are ways to strengthen it and avoid confusion among local law enforcement.
'Number one, prohibit cities and counties and local jurisdictions on sanctuary status going beyond what state law is currently,' Jones said.
California Senate Bill 54, also known as the 'California Values Act,' limits the use of state and local resources for immigration enforcement. It was signed into law in 2017.
'In fact, local law enforcement was prohibited from asking immigration questions or making any immigration related arrests,' said immigration attorney Saman Nasseri.
Jones is trying to avoid a potential patchwork of policies across the state with different cities or counties making their own rules.
According to Jones, SB 54 allows the option for local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE regarding people convicted of serious or violent crimes, and he wants to make that a mandate.
'I don't care if you're a U.S. citizen, legal resident, immigrant, or illegal immigrant. We want violet criminals off the streets and this is a common sense reform that I think begins to do exactly that,' Jones said.
Nasseri weighed in on Jones' proposal, acknowledging the current confusion for agencies.
'If you have an officer who doesn't make an arrest or doesn't cooperate, they point a certain bill or certain rule or whatever might be kept them from cooperating, but they could also get reprimanded by their supervisors,' Nasseri said.
Nasseri says regardless of how someone feels about the issue, 'objectively black and white rules are always better than rules that are open to interpretation. As soon as you open up to interpretation you get 10 different courts making 10 different decisions, so there is something to be said about consistency.'
Jones plans to introduce the bill sometime this week and it should have a bill number by the time he holds a press conference Friday outside the San Diego County administration building.
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