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California immigration rights advocates say they’re ready to take on Trump this time

Umito November 9, 2024

Immigration defenders say they are ready this time to confront Donald Trump and his mass deportation efforts.

The organizations expect a surge in calls for help after the president-elect returns to the White House on Jan. 20, but say they are better prepared than in 2016, when Trump began his first term.

The California Immigrant Policy Center said he would do everything possible to protect communities.

“We will inform our public, organize our communities, and call on our elected representatives at all levels of government to stand with us to oppose Trump’s racist, anti-immigration agenda,” said Masih Fouladi, executive director of the center , in a press release. its website.

Immigration advocates hold press conference in Los Angeles

At a news conference Thursday outside Los Angeles City Hall, Fouladi said the California Immigrant Policy Center knows what to expect from Trump in his second term: efforts to mass expulsions.

“We have been here before,” Fouladi said in a NBC NewsLos Angeles history.

The press conference also included representatives from organizations such as the Coalition for Immigrant Human Rights, whose executive director, Angelica Salas, promised to fight discriminatory policies.

Salas said Trump lied to voters about immigrants.

“We are mothers and fathers. We are beautiful people,” she said. “We work hard. We have visions. We are rooted in this country.

California AG vows to fight Trump administration

During Trump’s first term, California fought his deportation efforts by passing sanctuary laws to limit local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration agents.

After Tuesday’s election, California Attorney General Rob Bonta vowed to continue defending the state’s values on issues like immigration.

“We know we have to take Trump at his word when he says he will roll back environmental protections, attack our immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities, attack our civil rights, and restrict access to essential reproductive care “, Bonta said at a press conference THURSDAY.

“If Trump attacks your freedoms, I will be there,” he said.

Bonta told the Tutor that California defeated Trump’s efforts during his first term to block green cards for immigrants with access to food stamps and other benefits. The state also sued to block Trump’s attempt to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which protects undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children.

The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 in 2020 to prevent the dismantling of DACA.

Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the court’s four liberal justices: Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Today, the court has a 6-3 conservative majority, including Trump appointees Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, appointed by President Joe Biden, succeeded Breyer.

Bonta said he and other states’ attorneys general were prepared to coordinate lawsuits against the Trump administration.

But at the start of his second term, Trump will be able to appoint trial judges who will approve his immigration policies.

Currently, 47 federal judge seats are vacant, according to Law 360. The nominations are confirmed by the Senate, which will have a Republican majority in January.

ACLU Warns of Project 2025’s Impact on Immigrants

The American Civil Liberties Union warned against Project 2025 and its federal policy plan in areas such as immigration. Trump said he had no connection to Project 2025, but CNN reported that at least 140 former Trump staffers worked on the conservative agenda.

Current U.S. policy states that immigration agents should avoid arresting suspects in protected areas such as churches, schools and hospitals. The 2025 Project calls for using these spaces as part of an anti-immigration agenda that includes using state and local police to help carry out deportations, according to the ACLU. The organization says it would place undocumented immigrants in dilemmas such as choosing between seeking hospital treatment or staying with family in America.

Trump adviser discusses denaturalization plan

Efforts for denaturalization project will be expanded in 2025, according to Post by Trump Senior Advisor Stephen Miller on Xformerly Twitter.

“Yes. We launched a new denaturalization plan under Trump,” Miller wrote. “By 2025, we can expect it to be supercharged.”

The tweet led to messages from people disagreeing or agreeing with Miller.

One person accused Miller of wanting to deport legal immigrants and citizens as well as undocumented immigrants. Others called the effort evil.

In other positions, people agreed with deporting undocumented immigrants. One person suggested replacing 87,000 Internal Revenue Service agents with an equal number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Project 2025 calls for denaturalization in civil and criminal cases for immigrants who “obtained citizenship through fraud or other illicit means.” It calls for resuming denaturalization efforts begun during Trump’s first term.

The U.S. Justice Department’s denaturalization section was designed to stop “terrorists, war criminals, sex offenders and other fraudsters who illegally obtained naturalization,” said Joseph H. Hunt, who headed the civil division. from the Ministry of Justice, in a 2020 press release.

Critics at the time warned that naturalized citizens had fewer rights than those born in the United States. New York Times reported.

Denaturalization investigations were often based on minor discrepancies in documents or other technicalities, depending on Scoop alertan information site.

Kerri Talbot, executive director of the Immigration Hub, condemned the Trump administration’s plans in a statement. statement on the association’s website.

“The denaturalization campaign that began under Trump, and which his close advisor Stephen Miller now promises to “turbocharge,” is an attack on the fundamental principles of fairness, stability and equal rights that citizenship represents,” Talbot said. “Such policies are rooted in fear and exclusion, not the principles of justice and equality that should guide our nation.”

Dave Mason covers East County for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at [email protected] or 805-437-0232.