California Bill Would Protect Immigrants Testifying In Court
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The state legislature passed another measure Thursday, to counter the Trump Administration's tough immigration policies.
The bill seeks to protect immigrants who take the witness stand in court. It's billed as a measure that will keep the public safe.
Democratic lawmakers say the public is better off when witnesses or victims of crime can testify in court. But in recent years advocates say immigrants are refusing to go to court, for fear of being detained by ice.
"We know that ICE is in our courthouses," said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D- San Francisco).
Wiener's measure bars immigrants from revealing their status in court unless a judge rules it's relevant to the case.
"Your immigration status is nobody's business," said state Sen. Kevin De Leon (D- Los Angeles).
But California public defenders and even the California News Publisher's Association think it is in anyone's interest to know who's taking the witness stand.
"Most of the time when someone is asked questions about themselves in open court, it's to determine whether there's potential bias, whether they're credible, a good witness, and this eliminates that possibility from happening," said Jim Ewert, General Counsel for CNPA.
"You know you have to balance our shared desire to have a very open process with the reality that if immigrants fear going to court— they're not going to go to court," said Wiener.
There's no data on how often immigrants are being targeted in court, but advocates claim ICE agents have been following them into courthouses, as part of the Trump Administration's stepped up immigration -enforcement.
"In a hypothetical situation, if ICE was to hear a person's undocumented, they may wait in a court lobby and apprehend that individual," said Christopher Sanchez with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.
California's sanctuary state law keeps local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE. This measure takes the law a step further, limiting ICE's ability to perform its duty.
"It's unfortunate because it really chips away at the integrity of the judicial process," said Ewert.
The bill has an urgency clause attached to it so if the governor signs it, it goes into effect right away.