California legislators decry federal immigration actions

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — California Democratic lawmakers on Monday vowed to take action in the wake of the fatal shooting of an ICU nurse in Minneapolis, urging their federal colleagues to do the same.

Golden State legislators repeatedly invoked the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom died this month after federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers shot them. They denounced the shootings in a Monday press conference, calling them murders, and implored U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to act.

State Senator Aisha Wahab, a Silicon Valley Democrat, said her colleagues mourned the deaths of Good and Pretti, the latter of whom died over the weekend. She said federal agents have broken apart families and detained people without due process, demanding a full and independent investigation into Pretti’s death.

Wahab also said that if Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had integrity, she would resign.

“This is bigger than party,” Wahab said. “This is about who we are.”

The press conference served as a flashpoint for California to shine a light on federal immigration action happening thousands of miles away, as well as highlight its own clashes with President Donald Trump. Last year, Trump sent the National Guard to Los Angeles to quell immigration protests leading to terse words between the president and Governor Gavin Newsom, as well as lawsuits.

One of several lawmakers at a Monday press conference, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said federal legislators must stand against Trump.

“If that means shutting down the federal government, then so be it,” he said, an apparent reference to a pending funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.

Rivas also foreshadowed legislation he said would hold federal agents accountable.

Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, an Encino Democrat, announced two such bills that afternoon.

The first would prohibit federal agents from using state resources for immigration purposes. The second would require the state investigate any shooting by a federal agent.

The bills weren’t yet in print Monday afternoon.

The first bill would mean federal agents couldn’t stage their operations from a state property. It’s meant to ensure the state wouldn’t support or promote federal action against both Americans and immigrants, Gabriel’s office said.

“What we are seeing in Minnesota is a result of an administration that has normalized fear, intimidation, and use of force in our communities,” said Assemblymember Juan Carrillo, a Palmdale Democrat and vice chair of the California Legislative Latino Caucus, in a statement. “Do not be mistaken, what is happening in Minnesota will happen here.”

The second bill would task the state Attorney General’s Office to conduct an investigation anytime a federal immigration officer is involved in a shooting. Gabriel’s office said the legislation would complement existing law that calls for such investigations when police shootings occur.

“As the author of the landmark legislation that created independent investigations into police shootings, I applaud the actions of Assemblymember Gabriel to expand this law to include actions by federal officers,” Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, a former state lawmaker, said in a statement.

California Democrats have amped up their criticism of Trump and his administration and backed it up with legislation.

Last year, state Senator Scott Wiener introduced the No Kings Act. It would give people a legal avenue to sue federal agents when they violate someone’s rights.

Wiener has said there’s little recourse currently for people to sue federal agents.

On Monday, the San Francisco Democrat said both criminal prosecution and civil liability must be options when federal actors violate the law.

“Congress has to do its damn job,” he said, adding later: “It means taking the damn masks off.”

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, a Los Angeles Democrat, announced legislation last week that would prohibit a California officer from moonlighting as a federal agent.

Senate President Pro tempore Monique Limón said people shouldn’t accept what she called the harassment and illegal actions taken by federal authorities.

“This is not who we are,” she added. “This is not who we will be.”