Should the LA City Council Boycott California?

Yesterday, the LA City Council voted to impose a boycott of the people of Arizona for their stringent immigration laws. Maybe these members should look a little closer to home before they vote to impugn the laws of a neighboring state.

President Obama certainly could not have known that such a law existed in California or he would have included California as another location where children can not eat ice cream (see Obama’s comments on the Arizona Law)

Below is the a copy of section 834b of the California Penal Code dealing with immigration law enforcement at the local level.

834b

(a) Every law enforcement agency in California shall fully cooperate with the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding any person who is arrested if he or she is suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws. (b) With respect to any such person who is arrested, and suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws, every law enforcement agency shall do the following: (1) Attempt to verify the legal status of such person as a citizen of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted as a permanent resident, an alien lawfully admitted for a temporary period of time or as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of immigration laws. The verification process may include, but shall not be limited to, questioning the person regarding his or her date and place of birth, and entry into the United States, and demanding documentation to indicate his or her legal status. (2) Notify the person of his or her apparent status as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws and inform him or her that, apart from any criminal justice proceedings, he or she must either obtain legal status or leave the United States. (3) Notify the Attorney General of California and the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service of the apparent illegal status and provide any additional information that may be requested by any other public entity. (c) Any legislative, administrative, or other action by a city, county, or other legally authorized local governmental entity with jurisdictional boundaries, or by a law enforcement agency, to prevent or limit the cooperation required by subdivision (a) is expressly prohibited.

It may be interesting to hear comments of the LA City Coucil on the California law.  Maybe Ed Reyes, who said of the Arizona law– “As an American, I cannot go to Arizona today without a passport. If I come across an officer who’s having a bad day and feels that the picture on my ID is not me, I can be … deported, no questions asked. That is not American’’ –could offer his crack legal opinion on the California law.

Arizona cactus should be sent to LA as a token of friendship