Amended in Senate August 27, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 15, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 4, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 35

Introduced by Assembly Member Roger Hernández

December 3, 2012

An act to add Section 22449 to the Business and Professions Code, to amend Section 1264 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, and to begin delete amend Section 12801.6 of end delete begin insert add Section 13001 to end insert the Vehicle Code, relating to childhood arrivals.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 35, as amended, Roger Hernández. Deferred action for childhood arrivals.

(1) Under existing federal law, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has issued a directive allowing certain undocumented individuals who meet several key criteria for relief from removal from the United States or from entering into removal proceedings to be eligible to receive deferred action for a period of 2 years, subject to renewal, and who will be eligible to apply for work authorization.

Existing law provides for the regulation of immigration consultants by the Department of Consumer Affairs, the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, and the commission of notaries public by the Secretary of State. A violation of certain of these provisions is a crime.

This bill would provide that immigration consultants, attorneys, notaries public, and organizations accredited by the United States Board of Immigration Appeals shall be the only individuals authorized to charge clients or prospective clients a fee for providing services associated with filing an application under the deferred action program. The bill also would prohibit immigration consultants, attorneys, notaries public, and organizations accredited by the United States Board of Immigration Appeals from participating in practices that amount to price gouging, as defined, when a client or prospective client solicits these services. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2) Commencing January 1, 2013, state law provides that any federal document demonstrating favorable action by the federal government for acceptance of a person into this deferred action program shall satisfy specified requirements for the purposes of being authorized to receive an original driver’s license from the Department of Motor Vehicles, as described.

This bill would provide that these provisions also apply for the purposes of being authorized to receive a California identification cards.

(3) Existing law provides for unemployment compensation benefits to eligible persons who are unemployed through no fault of their own. Existing law establishes the Unemployment Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for the receipt of employer contributions and the payment of employment compensation benefits. Existing law makes it a crime for a person to commit various acts, including making or signing a false statement or supplying false information in connection with obtaining unemployment benefits, as specified.

Existing law provides that unemployment compensation benefits, and other related benefits, as specified, shall not be payable on the basis of services performed by a person who is not a citizen of the United States, unless that person is an individual who was lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time the services were performed, was lawfully present for purposes of performing the services, or was permanently residing in the United States under color of law at the time the services were performed.

This bill would provide that, to the extent authorized by federal law, if a person has received a notice of decision from the federal government granting deferred action under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and if that person performed the services while he or she was in receipt of a valid employment authorization from the federal government, he or she is a person who was lawfully present for purposes of performing the services and is eligible for unemployment compensation benefits, as specified.

(4) The bill would state that the provisions of the bill are declarative of existing law.

(5) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 22449 is added to the Business and
Professions Code, to read:

22449.  

(a) Immigration consultants, attorneys, notaries public,
and organizations accredited by the United States Board of
Immigration Appeals shall be the only individuals authorized to
charge clients or prospective clients fees for providing
consultations, legal advice, or notary public services, respectively,
associated with filing an application under the federal Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals program announced by the United
States Secretary of Homeland Security on June 15, 2012.

(b) (1) Immigration consultants, attorneys, notaries public, and
organizations accredited by the United States Board of Immigration
Appeals shall be prohibited from participating in practices that
amount to price gouging when a client or prospective client solicits
services associated with filing an application for deferred action
for childhood arrivals as described in subdivision (a).

(2) For the purposes of this section, “price gouging” means any
practice that has the effect of pressuring the client or prospective
client to purchase services immediately because purchasing them
at a later time will result in the client or prospective client paying
a higher price for the same services.

(c) (1) In addition to the civil and criminal penalties described
in Section 22445, a violation of this section by an attorney shall
be cause for discipline by the State Bar pursuant to Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 6000) of Division 3.

(2) In addition to the civil and criminal penalties described in
Section 22445, a violation of this section by a notary public shall
be cause for the revocation or suspension of his or her commission
as a notary public by the Secretary of State and the application of
any other applicable penalties pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing
with Section 8200) of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government
Code.

SEC. 2.  

Section 1264 of the Unemployment Insurance Code
is amended to read:

1264.  

(a) (1) Unemployment compensation benefits, extended
duration benefits, and federal-state extended benefits shall not be
payable on the basis of services performed by an alien unless the
alien is an individual who was lawfully admitted for permanent
residence at the time the services were performed, was lawfully
present for purposes of performing the services, or was permanently
residing in the United States under color of law at the time the
services were performed, including an alien who was lawfully
present in the United States as a result of the application of the
provisions of Section 203(a)(7) or Section 212(d)(5) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act.

(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), and only to the extent
authorized by federal law, an alien who (A) is the subject of a
notice of decision from the federal government granting deferred
action under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
program announced by the United States Secretary of Homeland
Security on June 15, 2012, and (B) performed the services while
he or she was in receipt of a valid employment authorization from
the federal government, is a person who was lawfully present for
purposes of performing those services.

(b) Any data or information required of individuals applying
for benefits specified by subdivision (a) to determine whether these
benefits are not payable to them because of their alien status shall
be uniformly required from all applicants for these benefits.

(c) In the case of an individual whose application for benefits
specified by subdivision (a) would otherwise be approved, no
determination by the department, an administrative law judge, or
the appeals board that these benefits to the individual are not
payable because of his or her alien status shall be made except
upon a preponderance of the evidence.

(d) If an alien presents evidence that the Immigration and
Naturalization Service has granted the alien employment
authorization as a result of the alien’s application for temporary
residence status under the federal Immigration Reform and Control
Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-603), pending a final determination
on this application the department shall not do either of the
following:

(1) Commence or continue to pursue any administrative or
judicial action to collect benefits where there has been a final
determination that these benefits have been overpaid or chargeable
to the alien, because of the alien’s immigration status at the time
he or she performed the services compensated by his or her base
period wages.

(2) Determine that the alien was overpaid benefits in the current
benefit year or in any prior benefit year, if the basis for the
determination is the assumption that because the alien is an
applicant for temporary resident status he or she was not, while
performing the services compensated by base period wages,
lawfully admitted for permanent residence, lawfully present for
purposes of performing the services that were compensated by his
or her base period wages, or permanently residing in the United
States under color of law.

(e) If the Immigration and Naturalization Service grants the
application and adjusts the alien’s status to that of lawful temporary
resident, the department shall not take any action described in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) or make any determination
described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (d). If an alien is not in
the status of being lawfully admitted for permanent residence,
lawfully present for the purpose of performing the services
compensated by his or her base period wages, or permanently
residing in the United States under color of law, at the time the
alien’s lawful temporary permanent status terminates, then
compensation shall not be payable on the basis of services
performed by the alien after the termination.

(f) Nothing in subdivision (d) shall be construed to require the
department to do any of the following:

(1) Repay any amounts collected under any present or past
action as described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (d).

(2) Redetermine the eligibility for unemployment compensation
benefits of any alien who the department originally determined to
be ineligible because of the alien’s status at the time he or she
performed the services compensated by his or her base period
wages and with respect to whom the determination has become
final.

(3) Apply subdivision (d) or (e) retroactively.

(g) If the United States Secretary of Labor finds that subdivisions
(d) and (e) are not in conformity with the federal Unemployment
Tax Act, and effective as of the date that this finding becomes
final, subdivisions (d), (e), and (f) shall be inoperative and of no
legal force or effect.

(h) Unless subdivisions (d), (e), and (f) have earlier become
inoperative and of no legal force or effect pursuant to a finding by
the Secretary of Labor under subdivision (g), subdivisions (d), (e),
(f), and (g) shall remain in effect only until September 30, 1990,
and as of that date shall become inoperative, unless a later enacted
statute which is chaptered before September 30, 1990, deletes or
extends that date. Notwithstanding this subdivision, however, the
department shall not take any action to collect benefits from an
individual when the collection against that individual was
suspended pursuant to subdivision (e) prior to September 30, 1990.

begin delete

SEC. 3.  

Section 12801.6 of the Vehicle Code is amended to
read:

12801.6.  

(a) Any federal document demonstrating favorable
action by the federal government for acceptance of a person into
the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program shall
satisfy the requirements of Section 12801.5.

(b) The department may issue an original driver’s license or
California identification card to the person who submits proof of
presence in the United States as authorized under federal law
pursuant to subdivision (a) and either a social security account
number or ineligibility for a social security account number.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 13001 is added to the end insert begin insert Vehicle Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 13001. end insert   

(a) Any federal document demonstrating favorable
action by the federal government for acceptance of a person into
the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program shall
satisfy the requirement that the applicant submit satisfactory proof
that the applicant’s presence in the United States is authorized
under federal law.

(b) The department may issue an original identification card to
the person who submits proof of presence in the United States as
authorized under federal law pursuant to subdivision (a) and either
a social security account number or ineligibility for a social
security account number.

end insert

SEC. 4.  

The provisions of this act are declarative of existing
law.

SEC. 5.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.