Media Contact: media@asianlawcaucus.org
‘Safeguarding CA Values’ Demands Courageous, Urgent Action to Protect Our Communities
SAN FRANCISCO – Today, the California Legislature is gathering in Sacramento to convene for the start of a two-year legislative session and for newly elected members to be sworn-in. A special session convened by Governor Newsom also aims to “safeguard California values” as our state prepares for the incoming Trump administration. In the past weeks, Trump and his appointees have vowed to unleash mass family separation, end birthright citizenship, send the military into our neighborhoods and workplaces, and erode long-standing and hard-won civil rights and freedoms.
Gabriela Villareal, policy director at the Asian Law Caucus, issued the following statement on the special session and necessary immediate actions to protect California communities:
“California is home to 10.6 million immigrants, and nearly half of all California’s children have at least one immigrant parent. These numbers represent more than statistics - they represent the fabric of our state. Immigrants and refugees are integral members of our neighborhoods, schools, places of worship, and workplaces. For generations, our clients have fought to build a California where all families can thrive, regardless of who occupies the White House.
“While proposed federal policies threaten immeasurable harm in Asian, Pacific Islander, Arab, Middle Eastern, and other immigrant communities we serve daily, California has the power and responsibility to protect its residents. Californians are uniting - including in Sacramento streets today - to defend the dream that brought us here and kept us here. We have a vision for our state where our diversity is our strength and a better life for our children, a unifying beacon.
“We are counting on our state’s elected officials to show up for all of us. We should be clear that the Trump administration’s playbook is to divide communities while diverting billions in public resources toward family separation. Those public dollars should be going to the solutions our communities need to thrive: housing, healthcare, jobs, safer places to live, and education.
“We call upon Governor Newsom and the California legislature to implement immediate, concrete protections for all Californians. Our state can take decisive action by:
- Strengthening and enforcing California’s sanctuary policies and ensuring that no tax dollars are used to dismantle our communities and tear apart loved ones
- Establishing robust firewalls that protect Californians’ private and sensitive information in state databases
- Creating multilingual rapid response networks to help people receive trusted information, combat misinformation, and get linked to services
- Using the governor’s pardon power to protect Californians who have served their time and earned their release from prison or jail are not double punished by detention and deportation
“Above all, the California legislature and Governor Newsom must use this special session to unequivocally commit every tool necessary to protect the rights and freedoms of immigrant Californians. Throughout our state, everyday people are bravely building up local defenses, strengthening mutual aid networks, training their neighbors on our rights, and so much more. Now is the time for Californians’ elected officials to make unwaveringly clear that they have our backs.”