ICE Out of CA coalition

@iceoutofca.bsky.social

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#ICEoutofCA coalition organizes & advocates to protect our immigrant community from detention and deportation. Join us! iceoutofca.org

Image of California's Capitol with the headline: AB 1537 Passes Assembly Floor and text: "Thank you to Asm. Bryan, co-authors, all legislators who voted "yes" and every org supporting "No Side Jobs for ICE"
graphic: no side jobs for ICE. Close the loophle and bring transparency. Pass AB 1537
The Fight to protect Californians from “Fusion Center” spying and racial profiling continues Groups disappointed as SB 1095, a key accountability measure, held in Senate SB 1095 was the first-ever legislation put forward in California to protect residents from the abuses of power committed by secretive and unaccountable “Fusion Centers.” We are very disappointed that this critical bill is not advancing this year. And we are grateful to Senator Pérez for authoring the bill, to the members of the Senate Privacy and Public Safety committees who moved the bill forward, and to the hundreds of community members and organizations who raised their voices. The public is largely unaware that our state hosts six data surveillance centers or “Fusion Centers.” Owned or operated by the state or local entities, they have operated in the shadows for over 20 years. What information has been leaked or uncovered is profoundly alarming: “Fusion Centers” here in California have targeted Constitutionally-protected protests, engaged in racial and religious profiling, and even shared information with ICE in violation of state law. We will continue to advocate, organize, and seek to expose the truth. The urgency to protect Californians from mass surveillance that fuels mass deportation has never been greater. Background: SB 1095 would have required any local law enforcement agency wishing to participate in a Fusion Center to sign a Memorandum of Understanding upholding key privacy and free speech protections and ensuring that personal data cannot be shared with ICE without a judicial warrant. Any violations of the MOU would have been a breach of contract and resulted in the law enforcement agency withdrawing from the Fusion Center until an audit to be conducted by the Attorney General every four years, which would investigate compliance with applicable state and federal law as well as with the MOUs themselves.
We are horrified and outraged by ICE's shooting of Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez. We hope Mr. Mendoza Hernandez will make a full recovery and we are keeping him and his family in our thoughts. As the coalition that led efforts to pass California's Sanctuary State law, SB 54, we are profoundly alarmed by reports that the Turlock Police Department may have colluded with ICE following a traffic stop of Mr. Mendoza Hernandez last week. If this is true, the Turlock Police Department bears responsibility for ICE's violence as well. We demand that the California Attorney General immediately launch an investigation into the Turlock Police Department’s possible collusion with ICE - and the shooting as a whole - to uncover the truth. We affirm that no matter where we were born or what we look like, we are all human. We all deserve to be treated with dignity. ICE and its corrosive violence and abuse have absolutely no place in our state. The ICE Out of California Coalition
[Excerpt from letter from several LEA associations to Public Safety chair.] "For example, a police officer who owns a small office cleaning company would be barred from contracting with a subcontractor of DHS that rents office space to ICE. Does this really make sense?"
Noem’s focus on meeting the Trump administration’s deportation quotas appears poised to further impact Coast Guard operations in the coming months, according to new guidance recently issued to Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento this year. Based on DHS priorities, the air station, which is among those responsible for a majority of deportation flights, has designated its first priority to be the transport of detained immigrants on its C-27 aircraft within the U.S., according to multiple U.S. officials familiar with the orders. The new orders moved search-and-rescue operations, which have long been the Coast Guard’s core mission, to a lower priority, the officials familiar with the orders said. They said counternarcotics efforts and Coast Guard training are prioritized above search-and-rescue operations.
Under Noem’s leadership, more than 750 Coast Guard flights have been redirected from regular missions such as maritime patrols and search-and-rescue efforts, to instead fly detained immigrants to deportation hubs, according to ICE Flight Monitor. Coast Guard flights carrying immigrants jumped last year from 14 in June to 149 in November, according to the group.
"United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) - ICE promotes homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing the border."
For independently elected sheriffs, constitutional officers accountable directly to voters of California's 58 counties, this represents an unwarranted intrusion into local governance and operational decision-making.
[SB Sheriff opposition letter] Existing law already provides sheriffs and police chiefs with broad authority to review, approve, condition, or deny secondary employment based on conflicts of interest, liability exposure, operational readiness, and public trust. AB 1537 overrides that framework with a statewide prohibition, removing discretion from locally elected sheriffs and municipal leaders and replacing professional judgement with a one-size-fits-all mandate.
A peace officer shall report to their employing law enforcement agency any offer of, request for, or attempt at secondary employment that involves assisting with or engaging in immigration enforcement.
Statewide coalition will champion bill to ensure police, sheriffs can’t work side jobs for ICE The ICE Out of CA Coalition, made up of over 30 organizations across the state, announced that it will sponsor AB 1537 by Asm. Isaac Bryan. The bill would prohibit state and local law enforcement officers from working “side jobs” with ICE, CBP, DHS, or any other entities engaged in the arrest or detention of Californians, including private security companies which contract with ICE to carry out abductions. The introduction of the legislation comes as ICE continues to violently terrorize, abduct and harm community members across the country and as the Trump admin. ramps up attempts to dramatically increase the number of deportation agents. With recent advertising campaigns, ICE has directly sought to recruit police and sheriffs. AB 1537 will shine a light of public scrutiny on these attempts, requiring disclosure of any “offer of, request for, or attempt at secondary employment that involves assisting with or engaging in immigration enforcement” and ensuring such records are available to the public. The coalition stated: “ICE is desperately seeking more agents to abduct our neighbors and tear families apart and is actively trying to recruit police and sheriffs. Despite the protections we’ve passed in California, we need to do much more. And this bill addresses one serious loophole: nothing in state law prevents officers from working ‘side jobs’ as deportation agents. Asm. Bryan’s bill will provide urgently-needed transparency and set a commonsense statewide policy. We look forward to partnering with the Assemblymember to advance this crucial legislation ensuring law enforcement in California are prohibited from taking side-jobs as ICE agents.” Asm. Bryan: “If you take an oath to protect and serve communities in California, you should not be allowed to take a second job with ICE rooted in terrorizing those same communities. It’s time to close this loophole.”
New Poll finds Californians want due process for all. Researchers say this latest poll by Goodwin Simon Strategic Research, released to CalMatters this week, also reflects waning support, even among a small majority of Republicans for the harshest immigration enforcement practices. It showed 84% of Democrats, 61% of independents, and 54% of Republicans agreed that “even if someone does have a record, they deserve due process and the chance to have their case heard by a judge before being deported.”
Chart with sharply rising line: "CoreCivic Inc Stock Soars on Trump Win." Source: Bloomberg
[Scott Shafer, KQED] ..you know, you then implemented a policy to turn over juveniles accused of crimes before they were convicted. Gavin Newsom: [00:46:13] Yeah. Scott Shafer: [00:46:13] Was that a mistake? Gavin Newsom: [00:46:13] Yeah, due process. I mean, the fact is, if I had that to do over again, the issue of due process was the missing link there.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/podcasts/the-daily/newsom-trump-la-ice-protest.html But Mr. Newsom also said that California Democrats had criticized him for working with ICE, “which I’ve done over 10,500 times since I’ve been governor.” And he distanced himself from the policy of sanctuary cities like Los Angeles, which refuse to coordinate with federal immigration officials. Mr. Newsom pointed out that as mayor of San Francisco, in 2008, he enacted a policy that referred undocumented minors charged with felonies to federal immigration officials.
The survey was conducted on the TrueDot.ai platform from April 1-14 among 1,025 California registered voters and 718 influencers. To generate the influencer sample, the poll was emailed to a list of people including subscribers to California Playbook, California Climate, and POLITICO Pro in California who work in the state. Respondents in that sample included lawmakers and staffers in the state Legislature and the federal government.
Trio of polls underscores groundswell of support for immigrants in CA, strong opposition to mass deportations Newly released data from the Public Policy Institute of California, coupled with polling earlier this month conducted by Emerson College as well as a recent UC Irvine poll of voters in Orange County, paint a clear picture: California voters strongly favor state and local action to protect immigrant Californians from deportation and to keep families together, and they strongly oppose mass deportations. Among key findings in PPIC’s new polling data, released last night: “An overwhelming majority of adults (72%) and likely voters (70%) say that immigrants are a benefit to California.” (In February 2024, this figure stood at 60%, so today’s results represent a significant increase in support.) “About six in ten adults (63%) and likely voters (62%) favor the California state and local governments making their own policies and taking actions, separate from the federal government, to protect the legal rights of undocumented immigrants in California.” “About four in ten California adults worry some (23%) or a lot (20%) that someone they know could be deported. Latinos (64%), Californians who have a high school education only (56%), Democrats (54%), those age 35 or under (53%), and Los Angeles residents (53%) are most likely to worry about someone being deported.” Earlier this month, an Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics/The Hill survey of California voters found: “A majority of voters (56%) think mass deportations of undocumented immigrants in California are a bad thing for California, while 44% think they are a good thing for the state.” Meanwhile, a UC Irvine OC Poll, released in January 2025, found (page 10): “President Trump has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, but only one-third of OC residents agree. By contrast, almost 60 percent of residents would prefer an option for the undocumented to obtain legal status."
Statement: Sanctuary for all will triumph over Trump’s vile lies "Donald Trump has made it abundantly clear that his administration will unleash a vicious wave of abuse and terror against our immigrant neighbors, based on a vile set of lies and distortions. Meanwhile, private prison corporations’ stock is skyrocketing as they stand ready to profit off of community members’ suffering. To these cruel attacks, our coalition will respond with strength, determination, and love for each and every person who calls the Golden State home. We will vigorously defend our state’s sanctuary policies, which provide essential protections against Trump’s abuses and benefit all Californians. California’s Sanctuary State Law and strong local policies have and will continue to make communities safer, and have and will continue to keep thousands upon thousands of families together. They are legally sound and morally necessary. It is clear that ICE and Border patrol will commit wanton racial profiling as well as demonizing Californians, including permanent residents, who served their time for convictions many decades ago and are a vital part of our communities. These community members are beloved parents, mentors, care-takers, neighbors, and leaders. We will spare no effort to uphold our shared humanity. In this moment, we need our leaders to take bold action that benefits all of us, not the billion dollar corporations that grow their profits the more families are separated."