There is a significant and immediate step Gov. Jerry Brown of California can take to protect community safety and civil liberties in his state.
He can sign the Trust Act, a recently passed state bill that prevents local police departments from turning their jails into immigration holding cells for noncriminals or minor offenders whose sentences are up or who should otherwise be out on bail. The act would require the police to let such people go, even if Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have issued voluntary requests, known as detainers, that they be held until they can be picked up for deportation. Only those who have been convicted of or charged with serious or violent felonies would continue to be detained at ICE’s request.
Read more in The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/opinion/trust-immigrants-and-gov-brown.html?src=rechp