California Democratic senators advanced legislation Tuesday designed to make it easier for people to sue federal agents over civil rights violations, reflecting concerns about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement practices. The measure, known as the ‘No Kings Act,’ came to a vote days after federal agents killed U.S. citizen and intensive-care nurse Alex Pretti during an enforcement action in Minnesota. The Senate passed the bill 30-10 along party lines and sent it to the Assembly.
The bills represent California’s most significant legislative push yet to constrain federal immigration enforcement, following laws signed last year by Gov. Gavin Newsom that limit agent access to schools, hospitals, and courthouses. The state is testing how far it can resist federal immigration policy before facing federal funding consequences threatened by the Trump administration.
The Senate debated the bill for more than 90 minutes before the vote. Sen. Scott Wiener, one of the bill’s authors alongside Bay Area Democratic colleague Aisha Wahab, said the measure addresses a constitutional duty to protect residents across party lines.
“It’s a sad statement on where we are in this country that this has to be a partisan issue,” Wiener said just before the vote. “Red, blue, everyone has constitutional rights. And everyone should have the ability to hold people accountable when they violate those rights.”
Several complementary bills are advancing through the legislature. Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, a Democrat from Culver City, introduced legislation prohibiting law enforcement officers from taking side jobs as federal immigration agents. While state law prevents officers from collaborating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement during their regular shifts, the current law permits them to accept employment with the Department of Homeland Security for overtime work.
“We don’t collaborate in the kidnapping of our own community members, but there is a loophole in state law,” Bryan said at a San Francisco press conference. “While you can’t collaborate with ICE while you are working in your police shift, you can take a second job with the Department of Homeland Security. And I don’t think that that is right.”
Sen. Eloise Gómez Reyes of San Bernardino introduced legislation to prevent federal immigration agents from making unannounced arrests in courthouses. The timing followed a federal judge’s order directing the U.S. Justice Department to halt civil arrests in immigration courts across Northern California. The judge ruled that current enforcement practices had created “chilling effects, safety risks, and impacts on hearing attendance” that discourage residents from appearing for legal proceedings.
“One of the core responsibilities of government is to protect people — not to inflict terror on them,” Gómez Reyes said. “California is not going to let the federal government make political targets out of people trying to be good stewards of the law.”
Sen. Susan Rubio of West Covina introduced a complementary bill allowing remote courthouse appearances for civil and criminal state court hearings, trials, and conferences through January 2029, providing alternatives to in-person appearances.
Assemblymember Matt Haney of San Francisco introduced legislation placing a 50 percent tax on profits from immigration detention centers. Over 5,700 people are currently held in seven immigration detention facilities across California, with three located in Kern County.
These measures build on laws signed by Gov. Newsom in 2025 aimed at limiting federal immigration enforcement within the state. Those laws prohibit immigration agents from wearing masks during enforcement operations and restrict their access to schools and hospitals. Some of those laws are facing legal challenges.
Shiu-Ming Cheer, deputy director of the California Immigrant Policy Center, described the new bills as representing “practical solutions that are squarely within the state’s control” and characterized their early introduction as a sign of increased urgency from the state legislature regarding immigration enforcement.
Republican opposition focused on a different approach. Sen. Tony Strickland of Huntington Beach characterized the bills as overstepping into federal priorities and called for California to abandon its sanctuary policies in favor of strengthened coordination with federal immigration authorities.
“No one likes to see what’s happening in Minnesota. No one wants to see that coming to California,” Strickland said. “But at the end of the day, we have a lot of serious issues here in California, and we need to start focusing on California-specific issues.”
Kevin Johnson, an immigration law professor and former dean of the UC Davis School of Law, said the legislative efforts reflect a broader pattern of escalation. “While there’s concern and fear in immigrant communities, there’s some solace being given by the support expressed by state and local officials,” Johnson said. “As the Trump administration escalates its aggressive deportation tactics across the nation, California has escalated its resistance.”