Our new recommendations
This month, our Racial Justice Task Force made recommendations on new state immigration legislation. The Multi-Faith ACTION Coalition recommends supporting three items and opposing one.
These draft laws would provide specific requirements or prohibitions applicable to the enforcement of federal immigration law in specific contexts, such as prisons or schools. They are proposals and are just beginning the process of being taken up – or not – by the legislature.
This is the time to express our preferences to our state elected officials. For more information on how to do that, click here.
Immigration Legislation to Support
- AB-15 (Gipson) The bill would apply the California Values Act to the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation. Other California law enforcement agencies are precluded from investigating, interrogating, detaining, detecting, or arresting persons for immigration enforcement purposes, with certain exceptions.
- AB-49 (Muratsuchi) This bill would prohibit local school officials and employees from allowing ICE officers to enter a school site for any purpose without providing valid identification, a written statement of purpose, and a valid judicial warrant and receiving approval from a superintendent or principal.
- SB-48 (Gonzalez) This bill would prohibit school districts, county offices of education, or charter schools and their personnel from granting an ICE officer or other federal official engaging in immigration-related enforcement permission to access a school campus without a judicial warrant.
Immigration Legislation to Oppose
- AB-18 (DeMaio) This bill, the California Secure Borders Act of 2025, would repeal existing state law that prohibits law enforcement from providing information regarding an individual’s release date from custody or from transferring an individual to immigration authorities without a warrant or judicial probable cause determination. It would also prohibit the use of state funds for various welfare, health, housing, and other services for undocumented immigrants, require public disclosure of information on the impact of illegal immigration on crime rates and state and local services, and provide cross-deputization training for local law enforcement to support federal border security actions.
The Multi-Faith ACTION Coalition generally prefers policies that support the vulnerable, including immigrants. Overly aggressive enforcement of federal immigration law can often be biased and intentionally cruel, especially when families are broken up. Our faith values call us to welcome the stranger and provide hospitality and support rather than antagonism and abuse.
As a result, we generally support restricting state agencies and local jurisdictions from cooperating with federal enforcement, especially at sensitive sites such as schools and places of worship.
