Bill Text: CA AB1747 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 1747 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System: immigration.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 17-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-10-12 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 789, Statutes of 2019. [AB1747 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB1747-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 24, 2019

Amended IN Assembly March 28, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1747

Introduced by Assembly Member Gonzalez
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Carrillo, Chiu, Friedman, Eduardo Garcia, Limón, McCarty, Medina, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, and Santiago)

February 22, 2019

An act to amend Section 7284.6 of the Government Code, relating to law enforcement.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1747, as amended, Gonzalez. Law enforcement: immigration.

Existing law, the California Values Act, generally prohibits, with exceptions, a California law enforcement agency from using its moneys or personnel to investigate, detain, or arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes.

This bill would prohibit a California law enforcement agency from making agency or department databases, as specified, or the information ~~therein other than information within those databases regarding an individual’s citizenship or immigration status,~~ therein available to anyone or any entity for the purpose of immigration enforcement. The bill would provide that any contracts or agreements in effect on January 1, 2020, that conflict with these provisions are terminated on that date. The bill would except from these provisions information within those databases regarding an individual for whom an arrest warrant has been ~~issued.~~ issued and information regarding an individual’s citizenship or immigration status, as specified. The bill would require all persons and entities provided access to agency or department databases to agree in writing that material disclosed to them from the database which is not otherwise subject to disclosure be treated as confidential, as provided in a specified statute, only be used for purposes that are consistent with existing law, and not be used for specified prohibited purposes.

Existing law requires a law enforcement agency that chooses to participate in a joint law enforcement task force to submit a report annually pertaining to task force operations to the Department of Justice. Existing law provides that specified records related to that report are public records within the California Public Records Act, but prohibits information from being disclosed if it would endanger the safety of a person involved in an investigation or endanger the successful completion of an investigation.
This bill would, instead, authorize a law enforcement agency to not disclose the information described above if the law enforcement agency provides justification as to why the information shall not be disclosed, consistent with a specified provision of the California Public Records Act.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 7284.6 of the Government Code is amended to read:

7284.6.

(a) California law enforcement agencies shall not:

(1) Use agency or department moneys or personnel to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect, or arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes, including any of the following:

(A) Inquiring into an individual’s immigration status.

(B) Detaining an individual on the basis of a hold request.

(C) Providing information regarding a person’s release date or responding to requests for notification by providing release dates or other information unless that information is available to the public, or is in response to a notification request from immigration authorities in accordance with Section 7282.5. Responses are never required, but are permitted under this subdivision, provided that they do not violate any local law or policy.

(D) Providing personal information, as defined in Section 1798.3 of the Civil Code, about an individual, including, but not limited to, the individual’s home address or work address unless that information is available to the public.

(E) Making or intentionally participating in arrests based on civil immigration warrants.

(F) Assisting immigration authorities in the activities described in Section 1357(a)(3) of Title 8 of the United States Code.

(G) Performing the functions of an immigration officer, whether pursuant to Section 1357(g) of Title 8 of the United States Code or any other law, regulation, or policy, whether formal or informal.

(2) Place peace officers under the supervision of federal agencies or employ peace officers deputized as special federal officers or special federal deputies for purposes of immigration enforcement. All peace officers remain subject to California law governing conduct of peace officers and the policies of the employing agency.

(3) Use immigration authorities as interpreters for law enforcement matters relating to individuals in agency or department custody.

(4) Transfer an individual to immigration authorities unless authorized by a judicial warrant or judicial probable cause determination, or in accordance with Section 7282.5.

(5) Provide office space exclusively dedicated for immigration authorities for use within a city or county law enforcement facility.

(6) Contract with the federal government for use of California law enforcement agency facilities to house individuals as federal detainees for purposes of civil immigration custody, except pursuant to Chapter 17.8 (commencing with Section 7310).

(7) Make agency or department databases, including databases maintained for the agency or department by private vendors, or the information ~~therein other than information within those databases regarding an individual’s citizenship or immigration status,~~ therein, available to anyone or any entity for the purpose of immigration enforcement. ~~Any agreements~~

(A) Any contract or agreement in effect on January 1, 2020, that is in conflict with the terms of this paragraph ~~are~~ is void as against public policy and terminated on as of that date. ~~This~~

(B) This paragraph shall not apply to information within those databases regarding an individual for whom an arrest warrant has been ~~issued.~~ issued, or regarding an individual’s citizenship or immigration status, as specified in subdivision (e).

(C) All persons and entities provided access to agency or department databases shall agree in writing that the material disclosed to them from the database which is not otherwise subject to disclosure shall be treated as confidential, as provided by subdivision (e) of Section 6254.5, shall only be used for purposes that are consistent with existing law, and shall not be used for the purposes prohibited by this section.

(b) Notwithstanding the limitations in subdivision (a), this section does not prevent any California law enforcement agency from doing any of the following that does not violate any policy of the law enforcement agency or any local law or policy of the jurisdiction in which the agency is operating:

(1) Investigating, enforcing, or detaining upon reasonable suspicion of, or arresting for a violation of, Section 1326(a) of Title 8 of the United States Code that may be subject to the enhancement specified in Section 1326(b)(2) of Title 8 of the United States Code and that is detected during an unrelated law enforcement activity. Transfers to immigration authorities are permitted under this subsection only in accordance with paragraph (4) of subdivision (a).

(2) Responding to a request from immigration authorities for information about a specific person’s criminal history, including previous criminal arrests, convictions, or similar criminal history information accessed through the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS), where otherwise permitted by state law.

(3) Conducting enforcement or investigative duties associated with a joint law enforcement task force, including the sharing of confidential information with other law enforcement agencies for purposes of task force investigations, so long as the following conditions are met:

(A) The primary purpose of the joint law enforcement task force is not immigration enforcement, as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 7284.4.

(B) The enforcement or investigative duties are primarily related to a violation of state or federal law unrelated to immigration enforcement.

(C) Participation in the task force by a California law enforcement agency does not violate any local law or policy to which it is otherwise subject.

(4) Making inquiries into information necessary to certify an individual who has been identified as a potential crime or trafficking victim for a T or U Visa pursuant to Section 1101(a)(15)(T) or 1101(a)(15)(U) of Title 8 of the United States Code or to comply with Section 922(d)(5) of Title 18 of the United States Code.

(5) Giving immigration authorities access to interview an individual in agency or department custody. All interview access shall comply with requirements of the TRUTH Act (Chapter 17.2 (commencing with Section 7283)).

(c) (1) If a California law enforcement agency chooses to participate in a joint law enforcement task force, for which a California law enforcement agency has agreed to dedicate personnel or resources on an ongoing basis, it shall submit a report annually to the Department of Justice, as specified by the Attorney General. The law enforcement agency shall report the following information, if known, for each task force of which it is a member:

(A) The purpose of the task force.

(B) The federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies involved.

(D) The number of people arrested for immigration enforcement purposes.

(2) All law enforcement agencies shall report annually to the Department of Justice, in a manner specified by the Attorney General, the number of transfers pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a), and the offense that allowed for the transfer pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a).

(3) All records described in this subdivision shall be public records for purposes of the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250)), including the exemptions provided by that act and, as permitted under that act, personal identifying information may be redacted prior to public disclosure. To the extent that disclosure of a particular item of information would endanger the safety of a person involved in an investigation, or would endanger the successful completion of the investigation or a related investigation, the law enforcement agency may withhold the information and, upon request for the information, shall justify, as provided by Section 6255, why that information shall not be disclosed.

(4) If more than one California law enforcement agency is participating in a joint task force that meets the reporting requirement pursuant to this section, the joint task force shall designate a local or state agency responsible for completing the reporting requirement.

(d) The Attorney General, by March 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, shall report on the total number of arrests made by joint law enforcement task forces, and the total number of arrests made for the purpose of immigration enforcement by all task force participants, including federal law enforcement agencies. To the extent that disclosure of a particular item of information would endanger the safety of a person involved in an investigation, or would endanger the successful completion of the investigation or a related investigation, that information shall not be included in the Attorney General’s report. The Attorney General shall post the reports required by this subdivision on the Attorney General’s internet website.

(e) This section does not prohibit or restrict any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, federal immigration authorities, information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of an individual, or from requesting from federal immigration authorities immigration status information, lawful or unlawful, of any individual, or maintaining or exchanging that information with any other federal, state, or local government entity, pursuant to Sections 1373 and 1644 of Title 8 of the United States Code.

(f) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a California law enforcement agency from asserting its own jurisdiction over criminal law enforcement matters.