Dem Sen. Padilla: ‘No Obligation’ for California Officials to Assist Trump’s Deportations

Partial transcript as follows:

MAJOR GARRETT: You know, President elect Trump has promised mass deportations. You also know, in California, there is a state law that tells local law enforcement not to participate and cooperate with ICE agents in deportation or identification processes. The incoming Trump administration border czar, Tom Homan, has said any law enforcement who don’t cooperate will be prosecuted under federal law. How is this going to be resolved?

PADILLA: Yeah, well, I think there’s an important distinction here. No state government, not Texas, not California, not any state in the nation has a constitutional authority to impose federal immigration law that is the responsibility of the Federal Government. Some states like Texas want to push the envelope and try to find a way to assist, but there’s no obligation to do so, and that’s what California leaders and municipal leaders throughout the state are saying. You know, we’re not going to utilize state and local resources to do the federal government’s job for them. Number one, I think there’s a long history of this being smart public safety policy as well. California is the most populous state in the nation, the most diverse state in the nation, home to more immigrants than any state in the nation, and the last thing you want to do is have immigrants who are victims of crime afraid to come forward to report that crime. The last thing you want is immigrants who may be witnesses to crime to be afraid to come forward and share any information that they have in the investigation and prosecution of crimes. That’s what we’re talking about here. Let the federal government do the federal government’s job, but have state and local officials do the state and local officials job. There doesn’t have to be a conflict unless that’s what Trump wants.

GARRETT: The governor has called a special session that will convene this week to set aside money to battle the Trump administration. Will some of that money also be set aside to protect migrants and undocumented immigrants in California as they seek either legal advice or continued legal financial backing to support their efforts to stay within California and the United States?

PADILLA: Again, if the first Trump administration is any indicator, we know that there will continue to be a lot of fear in communities and communities that deserve to know what their rights are and what their rights are not. And so if it’s legal assistance, legal advice, legal support, that’s just the California way. We embrace our diversity, our diversity has made our communities thrive and our economy thrive. And so we will assist families against the threats of the Trump administration, if we wanted to sort of cut to the chase. You know, we’re hearing a lot of bombas- from Trump and his allies about the biggest deportation operation in our country’s history, on the one hand, versus a- maybe a focus on violent criminals on the other. Nobody- nobody disagrees with a focus on violent criminals. Democrats, Republicans agree, but that’s very different than millions and millions of people being deported indiscriminately, not just tearing families apart, tearing communities apart, but tremendous damage to our economy that that would create.

GARRETT: Senator Alex Padilla, Democrat from California, we thank you for your time this morning, and we’ll be back right away a lot more Face the Nation. I invite you to please stay with us.

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