Advocates rallied at the state Capitol Tuesday to urge Governor Gavin Newsom to sign two bills targeting businesses that profit from immigration detention and enforcement.
Bruno Huizar with California Immigrant Policy Center says his family was permanently separated when he was a teenager after his father was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
"We lost everything," said Huizar. "Our family, our home, our safety, our dignity. And today, tens of thousands of Californians have been separated from their families by Trump’s violent mass deportations."
Advocates gathered thousands of postcards from Californians urging Newsom to sign the legislation.
Huizar added, "As you can see, there’s physical copies and there’s paper copies, really making sure that we can sign these bills into law. We got over 10,000 and most of them are being shipped from across the state into Sacramento."
One bill by Assemblymember Liz Ortega would restrict certain state tax credits, grants and loans for businesses involved in immigration detention and enforcement
"California taxpayers do not support tearing apart families and we will no longer pay for it," said Ortega.
Ortega’s bill would take effect immediately once being signed into law.
Another would impose a 25% tax on the gross income of private detention-facility operators.
Governor Gavin Newsom has until September 30 to sign or veto the bills.