Senator Sasha Renée Pérez issues statement on Trump Administration’s efforts to restart roving immigrations raids in L.A. County

SACRAMENTO – Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena) has issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s efforts to restart roving immigrations raids in Los Angeles County:

“The reasoning the Trump Administration is using to justify restarting their roving immigrations raids in Los Angeles County should not surprise anyone. The notion that anyone who speaks Spanish, works in certain profession like construction, or lives in a particular neighborhood deserves to have militaristic and masked forces unleashed on them is racist. For three generations, my family has worked in the construction trades. Through hard work, they built a middle class living and created a brighter future. Even as U.S. citizens, our family could have been targeted in these cruel raids. 

“As the federal court ruled last month in granting a temporary restraining order, a raid cannot be based solely on a person’s characteristics like language, ethnicity, location and occupation. This is racial profiling and it is illegal in the United States. These raids violate both the search and seizure protections of the Fourth Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment that states the government must apply the laws fairly and cannot treat people differently without a valid reason.

“Now the case is before the U.S. Supreme Court. I pray that black robes will prevail over white hoods.”

Background: Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena) is the author of SB 98, the SAFE Act, to alert school communities if immigration enforcement authorities show up on campus and SB 805, the No Vigilantes Act, which will expand the scope of existing police impersonation laws by making it illegal to impersonate peace officers, including federal agents, and require all law enforcement operating in California to clearly display identification that includes their agency and either a name or badge number or both. This bill also authorizes law enforcement to request identification from anyone claiming to be law enforcement, and bans bounty hunters from engaging in any form of immigration enforcement in California.

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Senator Sasha Renée Pérez is Chair of the Senate Education Committee and represents the 25th Senate District that includes the communities of Glendale, Pasadena, Alhambra, Altadena, Arcadia, Claremont, Glendora, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta-Montrose, Monrovia, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, Temple City, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, and San Antonio Heights.