The Assembly member believes that California has a “moral obligation to protect its residents from persecution.” He also recognizes immigrants as “valuable and essential members of the state.”
Targeting companies working directly with ICE
Currently, California has several laws protecting immigrant communities including the Sanctuary State Bill (SB 54), which prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies and other local institutions from sharing data with ICE.
Political observers perceive Bonta’s AB 1332 as a step further as it targets companies making profits from ICE including Amazon, Forensic Logic, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Palantir and Thomson Reuters. These companies have active contracts with ICE and play a key role in the agency’s mass surveillance and data collection targeting immigrants across the country.
Several cities surrounding Silicon Valley including Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda and Richmond have legislative proposals similar to Bonta’s AB 1332. These cities want to end contract with companies working directly with ICE to track down people.
