Gov. Jerry Brown, with his Jesuit upbringing, has long governed with mercy and forgiveness. With the four-term governor preparing to retire next year, I am hoping he bolsters his legacy by signing Senate Bill 54. Known as the California Values Act, the bill is being supported by a long list of elected officials, members of faith communities and community organizations.
I am an immigrant Jew from Eastern Europe, and my life and my community’s history are lessons in the benefits of welcoming immigrants with respect — and the dangers of turning them away.
Introduced by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, SB 54 would prohibit local police forces from helping federal authorities deport people who are in the U.S. illegally. It would also make public schools, hospitals and courthouses safe havens for California residents, regardless of immigration status. Passed in April by the state Senate, the bill is coming up for an Assembly vote any day.
“[The] worst thing we want to do is, in fact, have police officers leave their beats, leave the communities that they are sworn to protect and serve to go on and assist [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] federal agents — to set up a perimeter around an elementary school to wait for mothers to pick up their children,” de León said.
As SB 54 continues to pick up support from all corners of the state — recently garnering the unanimous endorsement of the California Democratic Party — one major interest group has attempted to weaken it: California’s sheriffs.
The sheriff departments in Kings County and Orange County both say they oppose SB 54, in part, because of money: They fear the Trump administration will withdraw funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program if California becomes a sanctuary state.
Aside from the questionable constitutionality of using law enforcement funding to blackmail jurisdictions, SCAAP has been marred by a long history of falsely criminalizing innocent residents. In 2012, the state auditor submitted a report that almost 2,000 flawed alien records were submitted through SCAAP.
Not all law enforcement officers oppose the bill.
Many cite the American Immigration Council, which found that while immigration rates have increased, crime has declined, and immigrant men ages 18 to 39 are less likely to be incarcerated than their U.S.-born counterparts.
My family left the Soviet Union so that here in America I could avail myself of opportunities that were denied there to Jews.
A 2017 study by the Center for American Progress found that sanctuary counties — which do not assist federal immigration enforcement officials — have less crime and poverty, and a higher median household income, than nonsanctuary counterparts.
Weakening or vetoing the SB 54 will chill community members’ willingness to report crimes and thus stifle the progress in public safety that they have helped achieve. At a press conference last December, San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia said, “We will not do anything to violate that trust” built with members of the local community. “Without cooperation, we would be ineffective as a department.”
While the influence of money on public policy and public safety considerations are crucial factors, I hope that the governor’s decision is ultimately based on California’s values.
As an immigrant myself, this is personal to me. My family left the Soviet Union so that here in America I could avail myself of opportunities that were denied there to Jews. Merely associating with a rich Jewish tradition meant that many universities, majors and workplaces were off-limits, and Jews were at a heightened risk of hate crimes.
I am certain that I would have been unable to attend my alma mater, pursue the engineering profession to help solve society’s complex problems or serve in public office had U.S. policies not embraced my family.
But as the collective trauma of the Holocaust is deeply enshrined in our minds, so is the shameful decision of this nation’s leaders in 1939 to turn away the MS St. Louis, a ship of 900 Jews attempting to disembark in an American port; 254 of them later perished in World War II.
If SB 54 fails, the preponderance of immigrants who would be at significant risk of deportation are people who live crime-free, industrious lives. They simply had the audacity to flee bleak situations in their home countries and, often, threats by gangs and militias. Many have called the United States home for far longer than I have been here.
Signing SB 54 would cement the governor’s legacy of compassion. It would grant to thousands of California’s residents the promise of a fruitful future — just like the one that has been granted to me. And it would ensure that our neighbors, friends, home care workers, nurses, small business owners, colleagues and classmates are less at risk of facing a fate similar to the one that befell the would-be Jewish refugees of the MS St. Louis.
Please call Gov. Brown today at (916) 445-2841 and urge him to sign SB 54 as written.
my parents were Immigrants , They went through the proper channels to come to this Great Country but made an effort to become Citizens and speak the language , They did not jump a fence or swim across the river . They were not Illegal Aliens at any time and Demanded Amnesty . Things will get better for America once they enforce the E-Verify which is coming .
@ Alter Boy – My grandparents also had the great fortune to come through “proper channels” before the door for Eastern European Jews snapped shut in 1924. Perhaps your parents had the luxury of coming from a country where the quotas were larger, the racism directed at migrants less virulent and the situation was not as desperate. Maybe your parents had better access to education or money or could wait as mine grandparents could because so many people were allowed to come in. And, remember, If you have enough money to buy citizenship, no one will sneer at you if you don’t learn English. Sometimes, the situation is so desperate, you can’t wait for the door to open. During WWII if more Jews were able to jump the fence to enter America illegally when they were barred from asylum by the antisemitic policies of FDR’s State Department, maybe 6 million of us wouldn’t have died. I’m not sure how you think things will get better by detaining and deporting hard-working members of our community who contribute the economy with their blood, sweat and tears. How can deporting talented Dreamers, who are American in all but their status, to countries they’ve never known, make us better? How will deporting the undocumented parents of US citizens make America better? The current policies aren’t driven by concerns for safety or making America better, or even the rule of law. They’re about racism, pure and simple. I don’t feel morally superior to my friends, family and acquaintances who lack status or fluent English just because I can flash a passport and English is my native tongue. After all, how many of those people you look down on who jumped fences, or crossed rivers, or risked their lives in the desert have provided you with crucial services that you didn’t turn down. The proper channels don’t reflect the realities of our economy, the need for changes to the quota system to reflect the reality, the systemic racism in our country that informs immigration and asylum policies. Passports and citizenship are recent inventions. A piece of paper doesn’t and cannot define us as human beings. The documents can be destroyed or go lost. The people remain. That’s why I’m going to do everything possible to stop families and communities from being torn apart. I am actively supporting SB 54 and California values because being a Californian or an American isn’t about papers and speaking the language. It’s about the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” – Emma Lazarus’s words that are enshrined on the Statue of Liberty – the symbol of this nation of immigrants. That’s why I believe in SB 54. Because that person jumping the fence, swimming the sea or wandering the desert to find sanctuary and freedom isn’t someone else; he/she/they are all of us.
J is promoting illegal immigration.
How about coming down hard on Neems?
What travesty ! My sister applied for a green card. Yes, instead of staying here illegally she went the legal way. She waited for 15, yes FIFTEEN years waiting for green card. Are you telling us that she was a fool to follow the law? How dare you. Dont flaunt your being an immigrant.
I am a Jewish immigrant from the Easter Europe myself. But I came here legally. Like many other legal immigrants who came here before and after me. What you Mr. Tregub is failing to see is the word “illegal”. Start calling things by their proper name and it is time for our country to take control over our borders and rid itself of the illegal immigrants.
When my grandparents left eastern Europe, they could have gone to Mexico or to Honduras or to Africa, but they chose to come to America. I would be dishonoring their legacy if I lent my hand to this misguided movement to transform America into Central America or Africa.