AB 1252: State law: immigration: local government: state grants.

Existing federal law authorizes any authorized immigration officer to issue an immigration detainer that serves to advise another law enforcement agency that the federal department seeks custody of an alien presently in the custody of that agency, for the purpose of arresting and removing the alien. Existing federal law provides that the detainer is a request that the agency advise the federal department, prior to release of the alien, in order for the department to arrange to assume custody in situations when gaining immediate physical custody is either impracticable or impossible.

Existing state law prohibits a law enforcement official, as defined, from detaining an individual on the basis of a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody, unless, at the time that the individual becomes eligible for release from custody, certain conditions are met, including, among other things, that the individual has been convicted of specified crimes.

This bill would repeal these state law provisions. The bill would enact the Promoting Cooperative Law Enforcement to Detain Criminal Aliens and to Eliminate Sanctuary Jurisdiction Act of 2017. The bill would define the term sanctuary jurisdiction for purposes of these provisions and would prohibit a city, county, or city and county designated as a sanctuary jurisdiction from receiving grant funding from the state.

The bill, commencing March 1, 2018, would require the Attorney General to determine annually whether a city, county, or city and county is a sanctuary jurisdiction and provide notice to the city, county, or city and county of that designation. The bill would authorize a city, county, or city and county to respond to the Attorney General up to 30 days after the preliminary designation. The bill would require the Attorney General, after consideration of any response provided, to list a city, county, or city and county that, in the opinion of the Attorney General, is a sanctuary jurisdiction on the Attorney Generals Internet Web site.

The bill would authorize a resident of the State of California to bring a civil action alleging that a city, county, or city and county is a sanctuary jurisdiction. The bill would provide that upon a final determination by a court that a city, county, or city and county named in the suit is a sanctuary jurisdiction, a court shall notify the Attorney General who shall add the city, county, or city and county to the list on its Internet Web site. The bill would exempt the state, a political subdivision of the state, or an officer, employee, or agent of the state or a political subdivision of the state, from liability in a legal proceeding that challenges the legality of the seizure or detention of an individual relying in good faith upon a detainer issued by the United States Department of Homeland Security for actions taken in compliance with the detainer.

The bill would require a state grant application to include a specified statement regarding the ineligibility of a sanctuary jurisdiction for state grant funds.