IMMIGRANT DAY 2015 ONE CALIFORNIA POLICY PLATFORM

Transcription

1 IMMIGRANT DAY 2015 ONE CALIFORNIA POLICY PLATFORM California is the heart of the nation's immigrant population, documented and undocumented alike. Millions of Californians with roots across the globe play a vital role in the Golden State s economic, civic, and cultural life. In recent years, sustained community organizing has led to landmark state legislative victories which have started to inspire change nationally. This year, across the state, as immigrant communities prepare for the implementation of the President's deportation relief programs, we are mindful of those who will be left out of relief. We continue to push for inclusion and equity, from ending painful deportations to healing the unjust exclusion of undocumented people from health care. Moreover, in the wake of systemic, well-publicized incidents of police brutality, immigrant communities across the nation are calling for transformative accountability and transparency from law enforcement. In the face of these challenges, the nation needs California's leadership more than ever to advance inclusive, forward-thinking policies that create stronger, healthier communities. We look forward to working with our legislators to advance the following priorities. PRIORITY ISSUES SB 4 (Lara) - HEALTH FOR ALL: The federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) unfairly and discriminatorily excludes undocumented immigrants from health coverage provided through Medi-Cal and Covered California, the state's marketplace. This leaves out over 1 million Californians who are uninsured and not eligible for coverage due to their immigration status. SB 4 would expand California s statefunded full scope Medi-Cal program to low-income undocumented immigrants and would allow undocumented immigrants with higher incomes to purchase

2 coverage in Covered California at full cost, after approval of a Section 1332 waiver by the federal government. AB 622 (Hernandez) - E-VERIFY: Each year, thousands of people may be wrongly kept from working or even fired because of a concerning federal program known as E-Verify. E-Verify is a costly, troubling Internet-based system to check whether a new employee is authorized to work in the U.S under outdated immigration policies. E-Verify masks a complicated, error-prone reality that hurts businesses and puts millions of workers at risk. The E-Verify program is wrought with a lack of worker protections and due process, insufficient privacy protections, and significant employer misuse. AB 622 will strengthen the California Labor Code's protection for all workers by limiting misuse of E-Verify. It codifies and clarifies existing federal standards, and finally gives these some teeth by creating financial penalties for abuse. AB 953 (Weber) LAW ENFORCEMENT: RACIAL PROFILING: AB 953 aims to curb the harmful and unjust practice of racial and identity profiling, and to increase transparency and accountability with law enforcement agencies. Racial and identity profiling occurs when law enforcement officers stop, search, seize property, or interrogate a person without evidence of criminal activity. STATE BUDGET - ONE CALIFORNIA: COORDINATING CITIZENSHIP & IMMIGRATION ASSISTANCE: Budget priority for the California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus and the California Latino Legislative Caucus. When the President s new deportation relief programs are implemented, 1.2 million Californians will be eligible; meanwhile, another 2.8 million are already eligible for citizenship or the current DACA program. Despite their eligibility, many of these Californians will face barriers to apply for citizenship or deferred action due to various challenges. The ONE California proposal will support eligible applicants by enhancing access to affordable legal services and trusted information particularly in areas of the state with gaps due to language and cultural diversity, regions with large eligible populations, and those facing geographic challenges. We ask that $20 million be appropriated, through the Department of Social Services, to assist qualified nonprofits to provide education, outreach and application assistance for lawful permanent residents eligible for citizenship and undocumented immigrants eligible for administrative relief.

3 ADDITIONAL BILLS SB 674 (de León) Immigrant Victims of Crimes Equity Act would bring fairness to immigrants victimized by crime. It does so by requiring law enforcement, judges, and government agencies to fill out the forms immigrant crime victims need to apply to the federal government for the Victims of Crime Visa ( U-Visa ). Under the bill, an immigrant cannot be denied the form they need if they were a victim of a crime that would qualify them for the U-Visa and were helpful or likely to be helpful to the investigation. The form must also be prepared within 90 days or 14 days if the noncitizen is in removal proceedings. AB 11 (Gonzalez) EMPLOYMENT: PAID SICK DAYS: IN-HOME SUPPORTIVE SERVICES would allow In-Home Supportive Service (IHSS) caregivers to accrue no less than 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, just like the 6.5 million Californians that qualify for paid sick leave under the Healthy Workplaces, healthy Families Act of AB 67 (Gonzalez) THE DOUBLE PAY ON THE HOLIDAY ACT OF 2015 would guarantee that employees are fairly compensated for the undue hardships associated with working on the traditional family holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. AB 206 (Stone/Medina) STUDENT FINANCIAL AID: CALIFORNIA DREAM WORK- STUDY PROGRAM would address an inequity in access to work-study grants for a segment of students attending the University of California or California State University. It would establish the California DREAM Work-Study program providing need-based work-study grants to AB 540 students, who meet all requirements, on par with other eligible students at UC and CSU. AB 389 (Chau) HOSPITALS: LANGUAGE ACCESS would provide greater transparency and oversight of a key accountability measure serving the needs of Limited English Proficient (LEP) patients by requiring the California Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) to post hospital language assistance policies online. AB 560 (Gomez) FAIRNESS FOR UNDOCUMENTED CHILDREN would ensure a child s immigration status is irrelevant when seeking recovery under any applicable law, such as intentional or negligent acts that harm them. This bill will also protect minor children from having their immigration status exposed or used when seeking civil recourse.

4 AB 619 (Weber) DEATH RECORDS: DEATHS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT CUSTODY would enhance transparency and accountability concerning law enforcement use of force practices, improve safety, and advance police-community relations. It would do so by expanding existing state and local law enforcement reporting requirements to include not only deaths in custody but also serious uses of force. It would ensure that important circumstantial information and demographic characteristics are included in all reports on uses of force, while also requiring that the California Department of Justice (DOJ) routinely analyze and publicly release the use of force information received from law enforcement agencies. AB 813 (Gonzalez) POST-CONVICTION RELIEF would ensure that California has a procedure in place to allow the courts to reverse a conviction after a person is released from custody and subsequently becomes aware that their conviction was legally invalid. AB 829 (Nazarian) TRANSFORMING THE USE OF GANG DATABASES BY LAW ENFORCEMENT IN CALIFORNIA would ensure due process by requiring local law enforcement agencies to notify individuals when they are added to a gang database and would give the ability to contest their inclusion in such database. And, it would require the state to report yearly on the number of people added to the database, how many contested, and how many were removed due to the petition. AB 900 (Levine) EXTENSION OF PROBATE JURISDICTION TO PROTECT VULNERABLE IMMIGRANT CHILDREN would align state law with federal law by providing California s probate courts with expanded jurisdiction for youth, who are older than 18 and younger than 21, and who are also eligible to apply for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). This would provide additional support for many of the unaccompanied and undocumented minors living in California. AB 1065 (Chiu) IMMIGRANT DOCUMENT ABUSE would help immigrants who seek work by prohibiting employers from requesting extraneous documentation from potential employees a practice known as document abuse. AB 1343 (Thurmond) IMMIGRANT DEFENDANTS would codify what has already been stated by the U.S. Supreme Court and California courts alike, that defense counsel provide accurate and affirmative advice on the potential immigration consequences of a proposed disposition and attempt to defend against such consequences. To ensure that immigration consequences are effectively considered, the bill states that the prosecution and defense must both contemplate the consideration of immigration consequences, in order to reach a just and fair resolution.

5 AB 1352 (Eggman) DEFERRED ENTRY OF JUDGMENT: WITHDRAWAL OF PLEA would allow persons who have successfully completed deferred entry of judgment for minor drug offenses to expunge the guilty plea from their record. Not only will this allow people who met court conditions to move on with their lives without the burden of a guilty plea on their record, the bill will eliminate the harsh and unintended federal consequences that flow from minor drug offenses, including deportation. AB 1366 (Lopez) PUBLIC POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION: DREAM RESOURCE CENTERS would create Dream Resource Centers at California Community Colleges and the California State University to provide undocumented students with adequate support during their college experience by streamlining access to all available financial aid and academic opportunities. SB 3 (Leno) MINIMUM WAGE FAIRNESS ACT would increase the minimum wage in California to $11 per hour beginning in January 2016 and $13 per hour in July Beginning in January 2019, the statewide minimum wage would be increased annually based on the rate of inflation. SB 10 (Lara) OFFICE OF NEW AMERICANS would establish the California Office of New Americans within the Governor s office. The Office would ensure California is ready to implement administrative and immigrant integration policies, among other duties. SB 23 (Mitchell) REPEAL OF THE MAXIMUM FAMILY GRANT would repeal the Maximum Family Grant (MFG) rule in the California Work Opportunities and Responsibility to Children (CalWORKS) program in order to provide for the basic needs of a newborn. Under the MFG rule, some infants are denied basic needs assistance, which leads to adverse outcomes and ultimately increased costs to the state. The bill would also protect newborns health and safety while prohibiting the state from inserting itself into the private reproductive and medical decisions of families just because they are poor. SB 247 (Lara) DREAM CENTERS: EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES would authorize and encourage school districts, county office of education, community college districts, the Trustees of the California State University, and the Regents of the University of California to establish on-campus Dream Centers to provide educational support to undocumented students.

6 SB 358 (Jackson) FAIR PAY ACT would strengthen the state s existing equal pay law by eliminating loopholes that prevent effective enforcement and empowering employees to discuss pay without fear of retaliation. SB 600 (Pan) CIVIL RIGHTS PROTECTION FOR CALIFORNIA S IMMIGRANTS would address acts of discrimination against immigrants in California by amending the Unruh Civil Rights Act of 1959 to outlaw discrimination on the basis of citizenship, immigration status, and primary language.