Jim Sanders @jwsanders55
Gov. signs AB 2189 to allow hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.
Description of the new law:
(1) Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue driver’s licenses to applicants who meet specified criteria and provide the department with the required information. Existing law requires the department to establish that the applicant’s presence in the United States is authorized under federal law.
Under existing federal law, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has issued a directive allowing certain undocumented individuals who meet several key criteria for relief from removal from the United States or from entering into removal proceedings to be eligible to receive deferred action for a period of 2 years, subject to renewal, and who will be eligible to apply for work authorization.
This bill would allow persons who provide satisfactory proof, as described, that their presence in the United States is authorized under federal law, but who are not eligible for a social security account number, to receive an original driver’s license from the Department of Motor Vehicles if they meet all other qualifications for licensure.
California Legislature website
So it seems like DREAM Act eligible people -- those brought here by their parents at a young age and who have been accepted by the new Federal program set up by President Obama's executive order to give them legal status to remain -- would be eligible now to receive driver's licenses.
Sacramento Bee
Hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants in California will be eligible for driver's licenses under legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown late Sunday.
The measure, Assembly Bill 2189, was among the final bills acted upon as Brown decided the fate of 108 proposals on the last day for him to sign or veto measures passed by the Legislature this year.
AB 2180 affects an estimated 400,000 undocumented immigrants expected to meet the requirements of President Barack Obama's new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
The bill extends driver's license eligibility to a select group of undocumented immigrants who already will have the right, under Deferred Action, to live and work in the United States for two years without fear of deportation.
Deferred Action is meant for longtime California residents who came to the United States as undocumented immigrants when they were young and generally have lived productive lives since then. It applies to undocumented immigrants between the ages of 15 and 31 who came to the United States before age 16 and have lived in this country continuously for the past five years.
Participants must be in school, have graduated from high school or obtained an equivalency certificate, or have been honorably discharged from the U.S. military. They cannot have committed a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more misdemeanors.
What did the President's executive order do?
It will decriminalize the status of the DREAMers until a bill can be passed. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection have been told to immediately start reviewing individual cases and stop eligible immigrants from being put into removal proceedings.
Those young adults already in the proceedings can be granted deferred action for two years and then may apply for renewal. They will be given work permits as each case is assessed.
Washington Times
Sun Sep 30, 2012 at 9:37 PM PT: In other signing news:
John Myers @johnmyers
.@JerryBrownGov vetoes #AB889, bill 4 overtime & rest breaks for domestic workers. Veto msg: study it. http://ow.ly/...
Sun Sep 30, 2012 at 9:46 PM PT: Here is the list of bills Brown signed and vetoed today, the deadline for his acting on legislation from the last session of the California legilslature.
http://dl5.activatedirect.com/...
Sun Sep 30, 2012 at 10:01 PM PT: Another veto:
Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed legislation designed to curtail the deportation of undocumented immmigrants arrested on minor or non-violent offenses.
Assembly Bill 1081 would have prohibited local law enforcement agencies from holding arrestees for federal immigration authorities unless the crime or conviction involved a serious or violent felony.
Known by supporters as the "Trust Act," the measure was touted by its author, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, as a way to save money and police time by limiting use of local jails for immigration enforcement, an obligation of the federal government.
Sacramento Bee
Sun Sep 30, 2012 at 10:20 PM PT: Another veto:
Gov. Jerry Brown killed legislation Sunday that would have made it a crime for farmers not to provide adequate shade and water to their field workers.
Assembly Bill 2676 required that anyone directing or supervising a farmworker ensure continuous access to shade and to enough "suitably cool" water for each employee to drink one quart per hour throughout a work shift.
Violators would have been subject to a six-month jail term and a fine of up to $10,000. If the victim suffered injury, the potential penalty would have escalated to a one-year jail term and a $25,000 fine.
Sacramento Bee