3 state agencies no longer must help feds with deportations

Law affects entities overseeing juveniles, hospitals, those with developmental needs.

SACRAMENTO — State agencies overseeing juvenile offenders, state hospitals and developmental services will no longer have to collaborate with federal immigration authorities under a new California law.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Friday that will repeal provisions in the state welfare code requiring the Division of Juvenile Justice, the Department of State Hospitals and the Department of Developmental Services to help facilitate deportations of people illegally in the country.

Senate Bill 613 by Senate leader Kevin de León was introduced as part of a package by majority Democrats to counter President Trump’s call for more deportations and expanded immigration enforcement.

The new law will leave it up to the departments to change their own policies should they so choose.

Together, they oversee facilities that house and provide services to hundreds of people a year. But only 23 have been transferred or reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the last five years, according to data compiled by the Senate Human Services Committee.

The committee found the juvenile justice agency houses more than 650 adolescents per day. The health department oversees five state hospitals and three state prisons, with a total capacity to serve 7,000 patients. The developmental services agency last year served more than 845 people with developmental disabilities and behavioral needs.