California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law that allows relatives of deported parents to become caretakers to the children who are left behind.
The legislation, known as Assembly Bill 495, was authored by Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez, was signed amid intensified immigration enforcement by President Donald Trump's administration.
Gavin Newsom's New Law
In a statement, Rodriguez said that they stood by their values in California and are choosing to protect families in any way that they can. This is especially true now during this "really scary time," the official said.
The recently signed law creates new guidelines for schools and medical facilities during immigration enforcement actions and safeguards sensitive information, which includes an individual's immigration status.
Rodriguez added that the law also establishes a temporary joint guardianship process in probate court so that families can choose a trusted individual to take care of their kids in their absence, according to ABC10.
However, a Christian-based public policy group, the California Family Council, argued that the new law is unnecessary and only undermines parental rights. The organization said the state already has something in place for this, which is the CPS.
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The group's vice president, Greg Burt, said that under CPS, if a child is left alone, the police should be called. They will then be responsible for calling social services to get the child picked up. It would then be up to a court to decide who will be the best to take care of them.
Before the bill, children whose parents were deported ended up either in the care of relatives, neighbors, friends, coworkers, or even strangers. It was also reported that quite a few of them were simply tossed into the foster care system, SFist reported.
Protecting the Children of Deported Immigrants
Newsom's office noted that in California, roughly a million U.S. citizen children are estimated to be at risk of being separated from a parent due to immigration enforcement. This was the governor's main reason for signing the latest bill.
Assembly Bill 495 was one of several measures that the California Legislature pushed this year following Trump's aggressive crackdown on immigration, targeting Los Angeles and California. Other bills that Newsom signed ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from wearing masks within his state and require schools and hospitals to require warrants when officers show up.
However, he left the latest bill undecided for several weeks, which resulted in many immigration rights groups fighting to secure the governor's signature amid pushback from conservative activists, as per Cal Matters.
