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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br />SB 54 (De León) The California Values Act <br /> <br />Purpose <br />To protect the safety and well-being of all Californians by ensuring that state and local <br />resources are not used to fuel mass deportations, separate families, and ultimately hurt <br />California’s economy. <br /> <br />Background <br />The President has stated publicly that he will order the increased deportation of a broad <br />category of immigrants and that doing so will be a top priority. Any expansion of federal <br />deportation efforts will have a significant effect on California’s economy and society. <br /> <br />A relationship of trust between California’s immigrant residents and our state and local <br />agencies, including police, schools, and hospitals, is essential to carrying out basic state <br />and local functions. That trust is threatened when state and local agencies are involved <br />in immigration enforcement. <br /> <br />According to the President Obama’s Taskforce on 21st Century Policing, “Immigrants <br />often fear approaching police officers when they are victims of and witnesses to crimes <br />and when local police are entangled with federal immigration enforcement. At all levels <br />of government, it is important that laws, policies, and practices not hinder the ability of <br />local law enforcement to build the strong relationships necessary to public safety and <br />community well-being. It is the view of this task force that whenever possible, state and <br />local law enforcement should not be involved in immigration enforcement.”1 A study <br />conducted by the University of Illinois similarly found that 44 percent of Latinos are less <br />likely to contact police officers if they have been the victim of a crime because they fear <br />that police officers will use this interaction as an opportunity to inquire about their <br />immigration status or that of people they know.2 <br /> <br />California is already familiar with the harmful effects of entangling local law enforcement <br />agencies with immigration enforcement. Prior to its termination, the discredited “Secure <br />Communities” program (S-Comm) operated in California as an indiscriminate mass <br />deportation program at great cost to California both financially and otherwise. According <br />to a report prepared by Justice Strategies in 2012, when the Secure Communities <br /> <br />1 Final Report of the President’s Taskforce on 21st Century Policing (May 2016). 2 Insecure Communities: Latino Perceptions of Police Involvement in Immigration Enforcement, Nik Theodore, Dep’t of Urban Planning and <br />Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago (May 2013)