FAIR Calls on Gov. Brown to Restore Sanity in California and Veto Dangerous Immigration Bills

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- California lawmakers have now gone beyond symbolic gestures meant to show their opposition to virtually all immigration law enforcement. Seven bills approved by the Legislature, now awaiting action by Gov. Jerry Brown, would significantly endanger not just law-abiding Californians, but potentially all Americans, warns the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

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FAIR is urging Gov. Brown to veto all seven bills, which offer new protections and benefits to illegal aliens. In particular, FAIR is calling upon Gov. Brown to stop the two most egregious bills, AB 4, the so-called California Trust Act, and AB 60, which would grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens. AB 4 would prohibit California law enforcement agencies from honoring nearly all detainer requests for illegal aliens who are in police custody for other offenses.  AB 60 would provide illegal aliens, whose true identities cannot be verified, state-issued identity documents.

"AB 4 recklessly shields criminal illegal aliens from deportation, placing the interests of lawbreakers above public safety," asserted Dan Stein, president of FAIR. "Gov. Brown wisely vetoed similar legislation in 2012 to protect public safety. This year's version of the Trust Act includes a few cosmetic changes, but those changes do not alter the fact that the bill would require California law enforcement to turn deportable criminals loose on the streets, rather than turn them over to federal immigration authorities. Because criminals released in California can easily migrate across state lines, AB 4 could endanger the lives and security of people all across the country."

To add insult to injury, it appears the San Francisco Board of Supervisors could not wait for such irresponsible legislation to be enacted at the state level. By unanimous vote yesterday, the Supervisors barred police from honoring ICE detainer requests, even for criminals who have been convicted of serious or violent felonies, unless those criminal aliens are arrested and charged with similar offenses. "Now, Gov. Brown must take a stand to prevent similar policies that endanger public safety from becoming law everywhere in California," Stein said.

AB 60, the illegal alien driver's license bill, also threatens the security of people across California and around the nation. "AB 60 would award state-issued identification documents to people presenting a variety of easily forged and unverifiable documents," warned Stein. "We know from the tragic experience of 9/11 how valuable government-issued identity documents are to those planning and executing terrorist attacks. But again, the California Legislature is willing to risk the security of the nation in furtherance of its political effort to undermine enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

"AB 60 is another piece of irresponsible legislation that has been vetoed by past governors and must be vetoed by Gov. Brown, along with the other immigration bills approved by the Legislature. Political gestures can have deadly consequences," concluded Stein.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a national, nonprofit, public-interest, membership organization of concerned citizens who share a common belief that our nation's immigration policies must be reformed to serve the national interest.

Visit FAIR's website at www.fairus.org.

SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)