Immigration Reform 2013: Undocumented Students Fight For the Trust Act in California

The Trust Act, a bill to limit how law enforcement works with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is up for round two in California's political echelons. Maybe you've heard?

It's a big deal for immigration reform proponents. Undocumented youth, on a caravan through the state to push for the Trust Act, are staging a sit-in inside Governor Jerry Brown's office on Tuesday. 

Source: uncoverthetruth.org

ABC News has some concrete information on the Trust Act: "This is the third version of the bill in California that would limit how state and local law enforcement comply with requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold individuals already in custody for an extended time while immigration authorities take steps towards their deportation. The new legislation would require state and local authorities to comply with ICE holds – or detainer requests – only if the individual in question has been convicted of a serious crime." Gov. Brown has vetoed the legislation previously.

Source: dreamteamla.org

This means that the police wouldn't necessarily have to deport you for the crime of having an ICE detainer, with the general complaint being that too many low level offenders, non offenders, and U.S. citizens are being arrested and deported unnecessarily. Obviously, this needs to be curtailed. 

These undocumented youth, caravanning statewide in coordination with the National Day Labor Organizing Network (NDLON), are currently in Gov. Brown's office, demanding that he sign the Trust Act.  

Source: Luis Efrain Serrano, on Instagram, via Facebook.

UPDATE, 6:23 PM EST: 

The Sac Bee reports that the protesters were told they can stay till 6 p.m., when the building closes. 

Luis Serrano, one of the organizers, has said they won't leave until Gov. Brown meets with them. When asked if they'd face arrest or leave, Serrano, noting the hour, said "They have a long way." There are currently four highway partol officers blocking the entrance to Brown's office. Evan Westrup, the governor's spokesman, said the administration is "continuing to work constructively with the author and other stakeholders on this important bill."

Updates as they become available. For more, follow me on Twitter: @JohnathenDD