‘Newsom-proof California’: Lawmaker proposes bill to strengthen fight against illegal immigration, trafficking

While legislators in the Democratic trifecta are trying to pass bills to “Trump-proof” the state, California Republican Kate Sanchez plans to introduce a bill that would crack down on what may be a “sanctuary state” loophole protecting criminal illegal immigrants involved in sex-trafficking minors.

“It would eliminate all of the unnecessary restrictions for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal law enforcement in order to go after those that have been accused or convicted of sex trafficking of minors, and currently there is a clause that they cannot communicate as openly as possible,” Sanchez told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

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These restrictions are part of California’s “sanctuary state” policies, which are designed to limit state and local law enforcement’s involvement in federal immigration enforcement. For her part, the specific provisions that Sanchez wants to amend are found in the California Values Act (SB 54), which was enacted in 2017, that restricts local law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect or arrest individuals for immigration enforcement purposes. 

There are exceptions in SB 54 for individuals convicted of certain serious or violent crimes. However, sex trafficking is not always classified as a violent felony under California law – making it so that some convicted sex traffickers may not meet the criteria for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities – potentially thwarting deportation efforts.

Sanchez argues this creates a loophole that could allow illegal immigrants who are involved in sex trafficking to remain in the U.S. after serving their sentence. In 2023, Newsom signed Senate Bill 14 (SB 14), reclassifying the trafficking of a minor as a “serious” felony, but other forms of human trafficking may still not be considered violent felonies under state law.

“So, we want to make sure we remove that piece of the penal code and allow them to communicate and do their job fully,” Sanchez said. 

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Sanchez’s bill may align well with President Donald Trump‘s mass deportation plan currently underway, but it faces an uphill battle in her state legislature, which is dominated by Democrats. Currently, Democratic assemblymembers – in collaboration with Newsom – are trying to pass a series of bills that would bolster the state’s legal defense against the Trump administration. The State Senate already passed the bills last week.

Democrats were set to pass the $50 million special session bill Thursday, but Assembly lawmakers reportedly blocked the package over concerns that there may be changes that need to be made to the immigration-related proposal. At issue is Newsom’s $25 million allocation for nonprofit organizations to defend illegal immigrants from deportation, and whether those funds would be used as well for criminal illegal immigrants. 

Newsom’s office told Fox News Digital previously that no funds would go to criminal illegal immigrants. 

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Newsom called a special legislative session quickly after Trump’s electoral victory to secure additional funding for the state’s legal defense against the administration. Reacting to the development on his TruthSocial account at the time, Trump said, “He is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election.”

Sanchez – who says she has been shut out of the legislature’s Hispanic Caucus because she’s a Republican – said the legislature should be focusing on “fireproofing” the state, or rather, “Newsom-proofing California.” 

“Take it for what it’s worth, but I genuinely feel like there are victims and there are people in need that we should be advocating for protecting our most vulnerable, protecting the innocence of our children,” Sanchez said. “It is an uphill battle in Sacramento, but I do feel the tide is turning, and I know we will be looking to our federal counterparts to be helpful in this matter as well.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.