And so, for local elected officials, who are living in sanctuary cities, or have declared their cities sanctuary, we have some time to strategize. And so, again, he's being bold in his policy directives. He's again being bombastic about what he wants to do. And so, we want to, we're taking a step back and looking at what our options are to defend ourselves.
Donald Trump speaking to supporters at an immigration policy speech at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. August 31, 2016.
(Image by (Flickr Gage Skidmore)) Details DMCA
DB: Well, as a way to get into what's going on in terms of SB-31 here in California ... are you getting reports, feedback from community, your supporters, the people who bring you to office, about an upsurge in attacks, if you will, in the age of Trump? Is there more going on? Is there more fear reverberating?
RL: Well, definitely, we've heard people express concern, and fear, in particular with our immigrant communities in my district, and throughout the state. And rightfully so, right? I mean, these are outright attacks on communities, and specific members of our communities, and so, rightfully, they are concerned.
And I think, for us, it's important that not only we demonstrate that we support our immigrant communities, we support our diversity, but that we're also demonstrating that we're going to do everything we can to protect our most vulnerable communities which include our immigrants.
DB: Now, it is true that California has always been on the cutting edge of issues like this. And the human rights issues that have to do with, I guess, the people who do the hardest work, and get abused for it, still, in this country. And now, under Trump, in a more focused way. Now, you have been working on Senate Bill 31 which is one way of combating what we've been talking about. Could you lay out what exactly that is, and what you're trying to legislate here?
RL: Absolutely. Currently we've heard the president talk about this creation of a Muslim database, right? And so, what we're doing here in California, we're preempting any state agency from collecting this data based on religious affiliation, and also insuring that a registry of this nature cannot be compiled using our state resources. So, it's a way for us to not only prevent local and state agencies from disclosing this personal information, but clearly this is something that we have to lead.
There should be no lists of registries of individuals based on religion, ethnicity, or nation of origin. We know what happens when we start putting people on lists, separating them, and history tends to repeat itself. And it clearly... this president has no idea of just the connotation, of what he's trying to do here, and what this is leading us towards.
And so, I think it's important for California, again, to do that. And California is a place where we honor our diversity, and we honor, most importantly, our religious freedom. And so, this bill is important for us to not allow a California Muslim registry to happen, not now or ever.
DB: Now, we know that Kris Kobach, I believe he's the Secretary of State of Kansas, is a key adviser to the Trump administration, and behind the scenes is trying to interweave a national registry, in terms of what you're talking about. So, I imagine here is a chance for your bill, and for California, to be on the cutting edge, to set an example of what has to happen.
RL: Exactly. And given the fact that California has... we are the most diverse state with the most immigrant population. Securing our data, and ensuring that we protect people's identity, here, would be a big... a large portion of that immigrant population that they're trying to identify.
DB: And there ... has been a formal registration or legislation created to enforce this kind of government policy. I guess it's the National Security Entry/Exit Registration System. Is that ... at the heart of the matter here?
RL: Yeah. It's called NSEERS, and it was created after September 11th, and it clearly demonstrated, now which is currently defunct, it was used to target mostly Arab and Muslim men, across the nation. And the program... of course, is disproportionately focused on Arabs and Muslims.
And it caused really widespread fear within those communities. And it undermined the trust of law enforcement, and needlessly punished immigrants, regardless of whether or not they were suspected of any criminal activities. ... My understanding is that list is no longer in place, and it really didn't do anything to prevent any terrorists attacks... in the United States.
DB: But it caused a lot of suffering, I mean from the information, I guess, coming out of your office, they managed to register some 80,000 people, 13,000 people were placed in deportation proceedings based on technical visa violations. That sounds pretty cruel.
RL: Right. Absolutely. Not only is it cruel, it's unjust and it's anti-American.
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