Advocates Vow to Fight On After Newsom Vetoes Bill to End Some Transfers From Prison to ICE

Lawmakers and immigrant advocates vow to persist after Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have protected some immigrants from federal authorities if they’re released from prison under state criminal justice reforms.

State Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles), the bill’s author, said she was disappointed in Newsom’s decision to veto AB 1306, known as the HOME Act, saying collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement amounts to “double punishment” for immigrants who have earned parole.

“It was never the intention of the Legislature to exclude immigrants from restorative justice reform policies,” Carrillo said. “I am committed to re-introducing the policy and ending a dual system of justice in California that treats immigrants as less than and unworthy of a second chance.”

The bill would have required the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to let noncitizens return to their homes and communities, as U.S. citizens do, if they earn clemency from the governor or resentencing under recent laws aimed at rehabilitation and reducing mass incarceration and racial disparities in sentencing.

Under current practice, prison officials alert federal authorities and arrange to transfer noncitizen inmates to immigration custody upon their release. Even longtime legal residents with green cards can spend months or years in ICE detention, and many are eventually deported.

Newsom vetoed the bill Friday evening and issued a statement explaining the decision.

“The bill would prevent information sharing and coordination upon a person’s release from CDCR custody for a significant number of people and, as a result, would impede CDCR’s interaction with a federal law enforcement agency charged with assessing public safety risks,” he wrote. “I believe current law strikes the right balance on limiting interaction to support community trust and cooperation between law enforcement and local communities. For this reason, I cannot sign this bill.”

Advocates called Newsom’s veto a calculated move to protect his presidential aspirations. A statement from the ICE Out of California Coalition reads in part: “We denounce Gov. Newsom’s cruel, callous and cowardly decision to veto this common-sense solution. When policy-making is driven by vanity and crass ambition rather than sound judgment, all Californians suffer.”

But instead of going home, Castañeda, who’s had a legal green card since she was 9, spent an additional year in ICE detention fighting until her deportation case was dropped by an immigration judge last year. She said she feels devastated for other immigrants who will suffer a similar fate.

“It’s like a slap in the face,” she said of the governor’s veto. “He commuted me! We’ve been rehabilitated, and then you want us to get deported? But the fight doesn’t stop here. Hopefully someday somebody will realize that this law should pass.”

Meanwhile, another criminal justice bill that was well on its way to the governor’s desk was pulled back at the last minute. Lawmakers carrying the California Mandela Act (AB 280) — a bill to restrict the use of solitary confinement in jails, prisons and ICE facilities — decided to make it a two-year bill after indications that Newsom would veto it.

The bill had passed the Assembly and the state Senate but the two houses have yet to concur on amendments. But the Mandela Act faces opposition from law enforcement groups. Supporters of that bill say they will try to establish a productive dialogue with Newsom and move it forward next year.