Hundreds of immigrants rallied on the Capitol’s north steps touting a platform of bills they say would protect immigrant worker rights, public safety and religious freedom. Democratic Assembly member Tom Ammiano says the bill he’s authoring, called the Trust Act, would set limits on a federal deportation program. That program informs federal immigration officials of the legal status of an arrested immigrant.
"We will have many people in California who contribute to the economy, to family life, to religion. Deported, incarcerated, denied income and split from their families, this is not democracy,” said Ammiano.
Among other reforms, the bill would only allow the sharing of fingerprints with federal immigration officials when immigrants have been convicted of a crime, not just arrested.
