By Sandra McDonald

SACRAMENTO — California legislators announced several bills to protect the state’s immigrants being targeted by President Trump’s aggressive new policies, including federal enforcement raids at schools, hospitals and religious buildings.

Members of the influential California Latino Legislative Caucus, made up of 35 Democratic lawmakers, announced the proposals to protect undocumented immigrants as among their top priorities in the upcoming session.

“It’s unfortunate that at the national level, we are seeing deliberate efforts to crash our economy, deport our communities and continue to villainize our Latino communities, and these bills are efforts to combat all of that,” state Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), caucus chair, said at a news conference at the Capitol on Tuesday.

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A separate bill by Gonzalez, SB 48, would expand existing laws and require school officials to deny federal immigration officials access to school records and school grounds without a judicial warrant. It also keeps local law enforcement from working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials near school grounds.

“California’s school resources and spaces should be dedicated to educating young minds and should never be utilized to tear apart families,” Gonzalez said, adding that immigration actions around schools cause a chilling effect on school attendance.

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The other legislation proposed to protect immigrants included:
 

• SB 81, sponsored by Sen. Jesse Arreguín (D-Berkeley) requires healthcare providers to deny ICE access to nonpublic areas and refuse disclosing a patient’s immigration status without a warrant.
• AB 421, sponsored by Assemblymember José Luis Solache Jr. (D-Lynwood) would ban state law enforcement from working with or providing information to immigration enforcement within a mile of day-care facilities, places of worship and medical offices.
• SB 635, sponsored by Sen. María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) would keep issuers of street vendor permits from requiring fingerprinting or asking applicants about their immigration status or criminal history.
• SB 294, sponsored by Sen. Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Colton) would require employers to post a notice to inform employees of their labor and civil rights when interacting with law enforcement on the job, and to notify the employee’s emergency contact if they are arrested or detained.

Read the full article on LA Times, here.