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Immigrants sell food, flowers and other goods on the sidewalks California There will be new privacy protections aimed at keeping their identities hidden from federal immigration agents.
This measure was signed into law last week democratic Governor Gavin NewsomIt follows other state laws recently enacted that aim to protect students in schools and patients in health care facilities from the president’s access. donald trumpImmigration enforcement actions.
Democratic-led states are adding laws opposing Trump even as he has stepped up his deportation campaign by seeking to deploy National Guard troops to Democratic-led cities to bolster U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who are arresting people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.
In contrast, some Republican-led states require local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE agents.
“The states’ actions really reflect the polarization of the country on this issue,” said Jessica Vaughn, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports immigration restrictions. “We have seen that some states are moving to cooperate to the maximum extent possible with the Trump administration and others “they are doing everything they can to thwart immigration enforcement in their state.”
Across the U.S., state lawmakers have passed more than 100 immigration-related bills this year, according to an Associated Press analysis aided by bill tracking software Plural. The measures are almost evenly divided between those who support and do not protect immigrants.
California is protecting immigrant information
A significant portion of California’s urban sidewalk vendors are immigrants. Some people have been included in immigration enforcement actions because their outward work in public places makes them easier targets than those behind closed doors.
Street vendors in California usually require permits from cities or counties. The new law prohibits local governments from inquiring about sellers’ immigration status without a judicial subpoena, requiring fingerprinting or disclosing personal information — name, address, date of birth, social media identifier and telephone, driver’s license and Social Security number, among other things.
The law, which will take effect Jan. 1, was driven by concerns that access to vendor databases maintained by local governments could lead to people being targeted for detention and deportation by federal immigration agents.
“We’re really talking about safety — safety for businesses, safety for humans, safety for people who have suffered a lot,” said Sergio Jimenez, a street vending organizer with the nonprofit Community Power Collective in Los Angeles.
Additional laws recently signed by Newsom add immigration status to the list of protected medical information and prevent schools from providing access to immigration enforcement officials without a court warrant. Another new California law directs schools and institutions of higher education to immediately notify staff and students or parents when immigration officers are on campus.
Democratic states create safe havens for immigrants
After taking office, Trump reversed a policy prohibiting federal immigration agents from arresting people at sensitive locations such as schools, churches, and hospitals. Like California, other Democratic-led states responded with laws in an effort to create safe havens for immigrants.
A Maryland law enacted earlier this year requires immigration enforcement officers to restrict access to public schools, libraries and health care facilities unless they are presented with a court warrant. of nevada republican The governor vetoed a similar measure for those schools that was passed by the Democratic-led legislature.
Meanwhile, a new Colorado law allows civil penalties of up to $50,000 for public child care centers, schools, colleges, health care facilities and libraries that collect information about people’s immigration status, with some exceptions. New laws in Rhode Island bar health care providers and landlords from inquiring about people’s immigration status. Oregon also enacted a similar law for landlords.
States divided on assistance from federal immigration agents
In contrast, Republican-led states have passed several laws aimed at strengthening Trump’s immigration policies.
New laws in Texas, Florida and Arkansas require sheriffs who run jails to enter into federal agreements to train their officers to help with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. State and local participation in the federal 287(g) immigration enforcement program – named after the section of the law that created it – has grown from 135 agreements in 21 states before Trump took office in January to more than 1,000 agreements in 40 states currently.
But some Democratic-led states have declined to participate. Similar to laws already in place in California and Illinois, a new Delaware law prohibits participation in the program. Democratic-led Vermont also tightened its restrictions on participating in federal immigration enforcement programs, revoking a waiver that had allowed it during emergencies.
A Connecticut law that took effect in October allows people to sue local governments that cooperate with federal immigration authorities in violation of the state’s “Trust Act.”
Public benefits are a matter of controversy
In Washington, new state laws allow workers to take paid leave to attend immigration proceedings for themselves or family members and prevent employers from using immigration status to force their employees to leave.
But some Republican-led states have enacted laws limiting benefits for people in the country illegally.
A new Idaho law prevents immigrants without legal status from receiving certain publicly funded health benefits, including vaccinations, crisis counseling and prenatal and postpartum care for women. Louisiana’s new law requires applicants for public benefits to verify legal immigration status and, if lacking it, to notify federal immigration authorities.
Several Republican-led states, including Florida, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Wyoming, have adopted laws invalidating some driver’s licenses issued to immigrants in the US illegally.
College tuition discounts are decreasing
Entering this year, about half of the states provided in-state tuition at public colleges and universities for residents living in the US illegally. But that number has declined since Trump took office and the US Justice Department sued states. Federal lawsuits claim that states are violating the Constitution by providing in-state tuition for people without legal status, while not providing the same benefits to out-of-state US citizens.
Florida repealed its decade-old law allowing in-state tuition for students who lack legal status, effective July 1. Republican-led Texas and Oklahoma both ended similar tuition policies after being sued by the Justice Department. Kentucky, which has a Democratic governor, also took steps to halt its policy after the lawsuit was filed.
California lawmakers attempted to expand tuition benefits for immigrants with a first-of-its-kind measure that would allow community college students who are deported or voluntarily leave the U.S. to continue receiving in-state tuition while taking online courses remotely. But Newsom vetoed the measure earlier this month, citing “significant constitutional concerns” that the tuition break was extended only to students leaving the country and not to residents of other US states.
A bill passed by New Mexico’s Democratic-led Legislature this year would extend the in-state tuition break to immigrants who earned income in New Mexico during the past two years or who attended at least two semesters of adult education courses. But Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham allowed the bill to lapse without her signature.