The State Assembly of California [official website] approved the Immigrant Worker Protection Act on Wednesday in an effort to protect against workplace raids from ICE. The bill, AB 450 [text], would prohibit California employers from allowing immigration agents to enter a workplace or to view their employees’ files without a subpoena or a warrant. Furthermore, the bill aims to prevent employers from retaliating against employees who report unfair labor conditions. The bill, co-authored by State Senator Scott Weiner [official website] and Assemblyman David Chiu [official website], comes in conjunction with the arrests of immigrants with no criminal records having more than doubled in the first few months of 2017. David Chiu said in a statement Wednesday that “In an environment of division and fear, California must continue to defend its workers, to guard its values, and ensure that its laws protect all of our residents.” Those who choose not to follow the guidelines set by the bill are penalized monetarily. The Immigrant Worker Protection Act now heads to the State Senate [official website].

Immigration legal issues continue in the judicial systems. Since the election of President Donald Trump, some states and cities have proposed legislation to crackdown on sanctuary policies while others continue to stand behind their policies. Earlier this month the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] to challenge a recently passed bill, SB4 [text, PDF], which they claim unlawfully targets immigrants and defunds sanctuary cities. The US Ninth Circuit of Appeals heard [JURIST report] arguments earlier this May on the Trump administration’s revised ban on travelers coming into the US from selected majority Muslim countries. Furthermore, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan [official website] ordered [JURIST report] the Trump administration to disclose the draft of the so-called “Muslim ban” executive order. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed [JURIST report] into law a bill [SB 4, text] banning so-called “sanctuary cities” in the state and the Mississippi Senate approved a bill [JURIST report] to prohibit local sanctuary immigration policies.