Golden Sanctuary State: Information is a Two-Way Street

Est. 2.7 million undocumented in CA (Image from KVPR)   

California is officially a sanctuary state: [bold added]

The law bars law enforcement officers in the state from asking about a person’s immigration status or participating in any joint task force with federal officials for the purpose of enforcing immigration laws.

The new law makes changes to the state’s Trust Act by barring local jails from holding an inmate for immigration authorities if that person is cleared for release on their state criminal cases. The law also limits the list of offenses that make undocumented immigrants subject to having their impending release passed along to federal authorities.

One counter-move by the Federal Government, namely, withholding payments to California, has been much discussed and will be challenged in court if attempted. But money isn't the only weapon.

The information flow from the U.S. Government to the States is massive. California benefits from economic (e.g., interest rates, tax audits, census), scientific (e.g., weather, USGS), transportation (e.g., aviation, shipping), and other data, often delivered in real time, the lack of which would severely hamper the functioning of State government.

For example, the State piggy-backs on IRS audits of individuals; a balance due to the U.S. Treasury is followed up by an invoice from the Franchise Tax Board a month or two later. If the Treasury withheld audit results, California could not staff up independently to review the taxes of its residents and lose millions of dollars each year.

As it shuts off communication to the Federal Government, our State should remember that information is a two-way street.