California Border Police Initiative
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The California Border Police Initiative was a proposed state ballot
initiative Popular initiative A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put direct ...
seeking to amend the
California Constitution The Constitution of California () is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of California, describing the duties, powers, structures and functions of the government of California. California's constitution was drafted in both English ...
to create a new state law enforcement agency called the "California Border Police." Proponents of the initiative failed in their effort to gather enough signatures to get it on the June 2006 statewide ballot. Backers described the proposal as necessary to assist the U.S. Border Patrol's enforcement of federal
immigration laws Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...
. However, opponents pointed out that the proposed state immigration police force would not be limited to the international border area, but rather have a much broader charge of enforcing federal immigration laws throughout the state. Since federal immigration law enforcement has traditionally been the exclusive province of the federal government, there is considerable dispute regarding the constitutionality of civil immigration law enforcement by state and local authorities. The measure was sure to have faced legal challenges if approved by voters in California. Before proponents failed to get it on the state ballot, the measure faltered in the Assembly Judiciary Committee of the
California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...
when first introduced by Assembly Member
Ray Haynes Raymond Neal Haynes Jr. (born August 26, 1954) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party from the state of California. Early and personal life Born in Merced, California, Haynes graduated from University of Southern Califor ...
(R-Murrieta). They then introduced it as an initiative proposal and had until December 12, 2005 to collect approximately 600,000 valid signatures of registered California voters in order to qualify the measure for the ballot. Proponents of the measure projected annual costs of up to $300 million for the new law enforcement department. The proposal did not make a funding allocation, but did authorize the Governor to use emergency powers to reallocate funding appropriated for other purposes in the annual state budget. It also called on the state to seek federal reimbursement for costs to the state in enforcing federal immigration laws. To date, the federal administration has not indicated whether or not it supports the aims of this proposal, or whether a federal appropriation would have been made if the measure was approved by California voters. Proponents of the measure argued that the initiative was necessary to address the rate of
illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...
to California and its strain on state resources. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates 10,400,000 illegal immigrants reside in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, and somewhere between 2 and 3 million are estimated to live and work in California. Opponents of the proposal said that the state immigration police force would disrupt and interfere with the jurisdictions of local police departments around the state. They argued that the initiative would therefore undermine the ability of local police departments to protect the public if immigrant communities, especially
domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...
victims, fear reporting crimes because of potential immigration law consequences They also argued that a state immigration police force would invite racial profiling. The chairman of the "California Border Police Committee," the official entity responsible for raising funds and making expenditures on behalf of the proposed initiative, was Assembly Member Haynes. The predecessor to the committee is Rescue California, the leading signature-gathering group for the
2003 California Recall The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican. The recall eff ...
of former Governor
Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 until he was recalled and removed from office in 2003. He is the second state governor ...
.


References


External links


Text of proposed initiative as posted on California Attorney General's website
* ttp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_0001-0050/aca_20_cfa_20050701_151400_asm_comm.html California State Assembly Judiciary Committee analysis of proposed initiative{Dead link, date=November 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
California Border Police CommitteeACLU legal analysis regarding federal immigration law enforcement by local and state authoritiesAdditional information on initiative process relating to this initiative
2005 in American politics Law enforcement in California 2005 California ballot propositions