BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
SR 40 (Correa)
As Introduced
Hearing Date: May 6, 2014
Fiscal: No
Urgency: No
TMW
SUBJECT
Relative to Immigration
DESCRIPTION
This measure would urge President Obama to take executive action
to suspend any further deportations of unauthorized individuals
with no serious criminal history.
BACKGROUND
Based on data collected by the United States Census Bureau as of
March 2010, an estimated 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants
live in the United States, making up four percent of the
nation's population, and 5.2 percent of the nation's workforce.
Passel and Cohn, Unauthorized Immigrant Population: National
and State Trends, 2010 (Feb. 1, 2011)
[as of Apr. 24, 2014].)
According to a 2011 research project, California has by far the
largest unauthorized-immigrant population (2.55 million), which
accounts for 6.8 percent of the state's population, and is among
the states where unauthorized immigrants constitute the largest
shares of the overall populations. (Passel and Cohn,
Unauthorized Immigrant Population: National and State Trends,
2010 (Feb. 1, 2011) [as of Apr. 24,
2014].) Further, unauthorized workers constitute roughly ten
percent of California's labor force and are especially likely to
hold low-skilled jobs. (See Pew Hispanic Center, A Portrait of
Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States (Apr. 14, 2009).)
(more)
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In 2012, the Department of Homeland Security issued a directive
referred to as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
(DACA), which provides certain undocumented individuals relief
from removal from the United States or from entering into
removal proceedings for a period of up to two years, subject to
renewal, and eligibility to apply for work authorization. Yet,
deportations have reached a record level of 2 million, rising to
an annual average of 400,000 since 2009. (Lopez, As
Deportations Rise to Record Levels, Most Latinos Oppose Obama's
Policy (Dec. 28, 2011) [as of Apr. 24, 2014].) According to the
National Immigration Law Center, more than 1,000 immigrants are
separated from their families and communities each day.
For many years, comprehensive immigration reform has been at the
forefront of national debate. This measure would urge Congress
and the President of the United States to take a comprehensive
and workable approach to improving the nation's immigration
system.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
This measure would make the following legislative statements:
according to the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2011, there were 11.1
million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States;
deportations have reached record levels under President Obama,
rising to an annual average of nearly 400,000 since 2009;
according to Congress members Raul M. Grijalva and Yvette
Clarke, although the Obama Administration reportedly
prioritized deporting only criminals, many individuals with no
serious criminal history consistently have been deported;
increased deportations and a continuously broken immigration
system exacerbate the living conditions of United States
citizen children whose parents have been deported;
separation of children from their parents, irrespective of
immigration status, always results in severe consequences for
young children who are left with no parental guidance or care
and a highly unstable financial situation;
as immigration continues to be at the center of a national
debate, President Obama and Congress must implement a more
humanitarian immigration policy that keeps families together;
California is home to approximately 10.3 million immigrants of
which approximately 2.6 million are unauthorized to live in
the United States;
SR 40 (Correa)
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many members of Congress recently signed a letter requesting
President Obama to suspend any further deportations; and
since California is home to a large number of unauthorized
immigrants from all parts of the world, this state should make
it a priority to keep families together and continue to press
President Obama and Congress for a solution to our broken
federal immigration system.
This measure would urge President Obama to take executive action
to suspend any further deportations of unauthorized individuals
with no serious criminal history.
COMMENT
1. Stated need for the bill
The author writes:
Increased deportation and a broken immigration system
exacerbate the living conditions of U.S. citizen children
whose parents have been deported. Separating children from
their parents, irrespective of immigration status, results in
severe consequences for children who are left with no parental
guidance or care in a highly unstable financial situation.
Therefore, it is vital that the state support an end to the
deportation of legalization-eligible immigrants and support a
more humanitarian immigration policy that keeps families
together. The fiscal and social cost to California due to
family separations and the loss of their children is enormous
and inhumane.
SR 40 calls upon President Obama to expand temporary
protective status to all legalization-eligible immigrants
through executive action, initiate a 'deferred action'
legalization process and thereby cease the deportation of all
eligible immigrants and families who have no serious criminal
history, until Congress adopts humane and inclusive
comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
2.Recent immigration policies support resolution
Pursuant to the United States Constitution, which grants the
federal government the power to establish a uniform Rule of
Nationalization and regulate commerce with foreign nations, the
federal government possesses the exclusive power to regulate
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immigration. (U.S. Const., art. I, section 8, clauses 3 and 4;
see also LULAC v. Wilson, (1995) 908 F. Supp. 755, 786-87.)
Because the federal government bears the exclusive
responsibility for immigration matters, the states "can neither
add to nor take from the conditions lawfully imposed by Congress
upon admission, naturalization and residence of aliens in the
United States or the several states." (Takahashi v. Fish & Game
Commission, (1948) 334 U.S. 410, 419.)
On June 15, 2012, the Department of Homeland Security issued a
memorandum calling for deferred action for certain undocumented
individuals who came to the United States as children and have
pursued education or military service. Under this federal
program, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA),
approved applicants are granted deferred removal action, which
may stop pending deportation proceedings or preclude the federal
government from starting deportation proceedings against them.
DACA does not grant lawful permanent residence or citizenship to
these individuals, but if their applications are granted, they
are lawfully permitted to work in the United States for a period
of two years and may apply for renewal. Notably, one of the
qualifications is that the individual has not been convicted of
a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor, or more than three
misdemeanors, and does not pose a threat to national security or
public safety.
In furtherance of DACA, California enacted AB 35 (Hernandez, Ch.
571, Stats. 2013), which, among other things, authorized an
employee whose DACA application has been granted to receive
unemployment compensation benefits, extended duration benefits,
and federal-state extended benefits, and made technical
revisions regarding the issuance of a state driver's license or
identification card to persons approved under DACA and
established under AB 2189 (Cedillo and Skinner, Ch. 862, Stats.
2012). Other recent California legislation urged Congress and
the President to develop a comprehensive approach to immigration
reform. (See AJR 15 (De Leon, Res. Ch. 62, Stats. 2010); AJR 15
(De Leon, Res. Ch. 60, Stats. 2010).
This resolution would urge President Obama to take executive
action to suspend any further deportations of unauthorized
individuals with no serious criminal history. Given that DACA
provides for suspension of deportation of individuals with no
serious criminal history and California's legislative history
supporting the enactment of DACA and urging immigration reform,
this resolution is arguably consistent with current public
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policy and prior legislative findings and declarations regarding
immigration reform.
Support : California-Mexico Studies Center, Inc.; Hermandad
Mexicana Humanitarian Foundation; Mexican American Political
Association; Protect Our Families - Save the Children Campaign
Opposition : None Known
HISTORY
Source : California Protect our Families Campaign
Related Pending Legislation :
SB 1392 (Lara, 2014) would establish the Office of New American
Integration in the Governor's office for the purpose of
formulating a comprehensive state strategy to support the
integration of immigrants in the state, including the
improvement of the current social and economic mobility and
self-sufficiency of documented immigrants. SB 1392 is currently
in the Senate Committee on Rules.
SR 25 (Calderon, 2014) contains the same language as this
resolution. SR 25 is currently in the Senate Committee on
Rules.
Prior Legislation :
AB 35 (Hernandez, Ch. 571, Stats. 2013) See Comment 2.
AB 2189 (Cedillo and Skinner, Ch. 862, Stats. 2012) See Comment
2.
AJR 37 (De Leon, Res. Ch. 62, Stats. 2010) See Comment 2.
AJR 15 (De Leon, Res. Ch. 60, Stats. 2010) See Comment 2.
SJR 19 (Cedillo, 2009) would have urged Congress and the
President of the United States to declare an immediate
moratorium on the aggressive, unprecedented enforcement of
employer sanctions, including excessive audits of profiled
companies that hire immigrants, the expanded use of the E-Verify
system, the federal system of employment verification, the
expansion of police-ICE collaboration, and immigration raids in
the State of California, until our nation can enact and
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implement a comprehensive and just reform of our immigration
laws with a comprehensive immigration program that recognizes
the broad contributions immigrants have made to the fabric of
the country. SJR 19 passed the Senate but was held at the
Assembly Desk.
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