“Get the feds out!” state Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez of District 54 shouted from the steps of the Japanese American National Museum on Friday as he announced a bill that would bar people with a history of working in federal immigration enforcement from holding public service jobs in California.
Gonzalez cited reports that thousands of immigration detentions have been overturned by courts as unlawful. He said federal agents carry out enforcement in ways he described as dangerous and argued their tactics are likely unconstitutional.
“For months, our communities have been under assault,” he said. “They have taken people off our streets while masked, unidentified, refusing to say who they are or who they answer to. Those agents are clearly breaking the law.”
New California laws that took effect Jan. 1 bar federal immigration agents from wearing masks and require them to identify themselves. The federal government has sued to block the measures, and The LA Local recently reported that Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said he will not order officers to enforce the law.
“I am introducing a bill today that draws a moral line here in California. We are calling it like we see it, like we feel it, respectfully, the ‘GTFO’ ICE bill,” Gonzalez said. “Because California will not be a refuge for federal abuse of power.”
He said if the bill passes, it will establish hiring standards for teachers, judges, social workers and police officers, among others. These modified standards would take into account if a person’s employment history included work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), ignored due process or followed unlawful orders.
“This is about safeguarding the integrity of California’s public agencies,” he added. “It’s about ensuring the people entrusted with power in the state believe in the rule of law, not rule by fear.”
Gonzales was joined by state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, a democrat representing LA District 26, and Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado of District 14.
Durazo noted that federal agencies conducting immigration operations have lowered hiring standards, reduced training and are providing people with no meaningful way to hold agents accused of misconduct accountable.
“Since Jan. 20, immigration enforcement has transformed into something unrecognizable, militarized, authoritarian force that operates without warrants, without accountability, without any sense of humanity,” Durazo said, adding, “Fascism is growing right before our very eyes.”
The museum was specifically chosen as the venue for the announcement because of its work to preserve and educate the public about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The museum’s president, Ann Burroughs, cited that history when introducing the legislators scheduled to speak, specifically noting that it was a federal executive order in 1942 establishing the legal framework for Japanese American incarceration during the war.
“And yet here we are again, history is repeating itself,” Ann Burroughs said.
The museum was also where Gov. Gavin Newsom held a press conference last year to announce a voter redistricting initiative as U.S. Border Patrol agents began conducting an immigration sweep in the area.
The bill has not yet been formally introduced in the California State Legislature and would next be sent to various committees for consideration. It comes amid a slew of recently enacted laws and proposed legislation aimed at limiting immigration enforcement operations that began last year and have led to thousands of detentions and deportations.
The Department of Homeland Security and LAPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.