Over the past year, a broad package of bills cleared the California legislature aimed at strengthening state-level scrutiny of federal agencies — including those handling immigration enforcement — operating within the state's borders. On September 29, Governor Gavin Newsom signed more than 20 bills aimed at responding to residents' concerns about federal immigration enforcement and providing support for immigrant families living in the state.
Newsom's statement called for greater transparency, accountability, and oversight in how immigration enforcement operates within the state, while asserting that the policies of the current administration have generated unease and upheaval among immigrant residents. The proponent described the effort as an attempt to address gaps left by federal inaction in areas where local residents rely on public support.
The immigration-related legislation Newsom signed into law includes multiple bills designed to place limits on how federal authorities operate within California's borders. Senate Bill 747, known as the No Kings Act and put forward by State Senator Scott Wiener, would open a civil legal pathway for individuals who believe their constitutional rights were infringed upon by government officials — including federal officers — to pursue action in court, while a statement attributed to the bill's supporters described ICE and Border Patrol as having carried out enforcement actions in California communities without facing accountability.
In a written statement, Senator Wiener argued that federal agents who operate outside the law should face the same accountability measures applied to any other person found to have broken it. A provision within the legislation has, over an extended period, allowed certain parties to avoid facing consequences.
Contained within the No Kings Act — a legislative package backed by organizations such as the California Immigrant Policy Center — are two Assembly measures: AB 1633, carried by Assemblymember Matt Haney, which would impose a 25 percent tax on private detention facilities holding federal immigration contracts and direct those revenues toward immigration-related services, and AB 1806, which would authorize the state attorney general to investigate fatal shootings of unarmed civilians by federal immigration agents. The California Immigrant Policy Center's executive director, Masih Fouladi, indicated that the bills take aim at corporate profits generated through the detention of immigrant families, while Haney contended separately that private operators of those facilities have collected hundreds of millions of dollars under conditions he characterized as inhumane.
Among the measures Newsom signed were two that drew particular attention: one barring federal agents from making use of state-owned facilities for holding or processing individuals, and another prohibiting battery-powered gloves engineered to administer short but painful electrical jolts.
The governor's veto of Assembly Bill 1896 drew opposition from critics; the measure would have barred California's state, county, and local public agencies from hiring anyone with a prior record of participation in immigration enforcement. In his veto message, Newsom described the bill as going further than he believed appropriate, adding that steering capable Americans away from federal service — or pushing out those who take issue with the current administration's direction — would be counterproductive. His letter also noted that state and local government hiring already operates under conduct standards, with accountability measures in place for employees who fall short of them.
