California Governor Gavin Newsom has stated that he would veto the AB15 bill if it passes through the California State Assembly. The bill aims to prevent the state prison system from cooperating with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
AB15 was introduced by Democratic State Assemblyman Mike Gipson, who represents the central and southern parts of Los Angeles County. The bill seeks to prohibit the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) from complying with ICE requests to detain individuals, sharing personal release dates with ICE, responding to ICE information requests, and transferring individuals to ICE.
Governor Newsom’s office issued a statement to Epoch Times, stating that the Governor has vetoed similar bills twice before, and his stance has remained consistent since his time as the Mayor of San Francisco.
Current California law allows CDCR to transfer undocumented immigrants who have completed their prison sentences in state prisons to ICE.
Statistics provided by the Governor’s office show that the prison system has notified and coordinated with ICE to transfer 10,588 inmates, including undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes such as assault, threats, rape, theft, fraud, felony DUI, drug crimes, etc.
Newsom vetoed AB1282 and AB1306 bills in 2019 and 2023, respectively. The latter targeted groups including but not limited to juvenile offenders, elderly individuals, and medical parolees.
In his veto of AB1306, Newsom stated, “The bill would impede information-sharing and coordination upon an individual’s release from CDCR, affecting a significant number of individuals and hindering CDCR’s interactions with federal law enforcement agencies responsible for assessing public safety risks.” He believed that the current law strikes a good balance in restricting interactions, which helps build community trust and enhances cooperation between law enforcement agencies and local communities.
In his 2023 veto message, he mentioned that CDCR would limit its communication with ICE, providing information only when non-citizens nearing their release dates. ICE would then decide how to enforce federal laws.
AB1282 prohibited ICE agents from arresting, detaining, questioning, transporting, or detaining individuals for immigration enforcement purposes, and Newsom also vetoed this bill in concern.
In 2019, Newsom expressed his worries that the bill would set statutory restrictions on CDCR’s ability to transfer inmates and prohibit the department from allowing private security companies to engage in immigration enforcement within prisons. He feared that the provisions in the bill could have negative impacts on prison operations and might impede and delay necessary transfers between prisons for medical needs and court obligations.
AB15 was initially introduced in last December and is currently under committee review, with the next step being consideration by the State Assembly. Epoch Times reached out to Gipson and the co-sponsors of the bill for comments, but no responses have been received as of the publication deadline.