Led by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D–Salinas) and Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón (D–Santa Barbara), California Democratic lawmakers, including members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), held a news conference in Sacramento on Jan. 26 to address recent fatal shootings of civilians by federal immigration agents in Minnesota and California.
Lawmakers expressed concern and outrage over the killings of Alex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs ICU nurse, and Renee Nicole Good, a poet, writer, and mother of three.
Sen. Laura Richardson (D–San Pedro) spoke on behalf of the CLBC, criticizing federal immigration enforcement practices and calling for accountability.
Richardson, who said she was previously married to a police officer, argued that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Border Patrol agents are not “making sure lawful activity is occurring.” She invoked the words of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to condemn what she described as public silence in the face of injustice.
“We are Californians. We are Americans, and we will not be silent. We will be here every time, every day, until this stops,” Richardson said.
Assemblymember Mark González (D–Los Angeles) recalled the names of people who were allegedly shot in January during enforcement operations involving ICE or U.S. Border Patrol agents.
On New Year’s Eve, Keith Porter Jr., 43, was allegedly shot and killed by an off-duty ICE agent in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles. Authorities said the confrontation occurred outside an apartment complex after the agent alleged Porter fired celebratory gunshots into the air.
“What’s been happening there is not isolated. It’s part of a dangerous pattern of federal power turning inward on the people it claims to serve,” González said.
Following the news conference, Democratic lawmakers announced a slate of legislative proposals aimed at increasing oversight and limiting the involvement of state law enforcement in federal immigration enforcement.
During the briefing, Rivas described the fatal incidents as an “assault on the American right to life” and characterized federal agents’ actions as a form of “out-of-control violence.”
On Jan. 6, Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D–Ladera Heights) introduced Assembly Bill 1537, titled “Peace Officers: Secondary Employment.” The bill would prohibit California peace officers from taking secondary employment, contract work, or volunteer roles with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), its contractors, or any entity involved in immigration enforcement.
“Right now, California’s law enforcement officers can take second jobs with ICE,” Bryan, a member of the CLBC, wrote in a Jan. 27 Instagram post. “AB 1537.
