Attorney General: immigration enforcement policies.

Senator Durazo’s proposal crafts a statewide framework that directs the Attorney General to publish model policies governing interactions with immigration authorities and to issue guidance on how state and local agency databases—including those operated by private vendors—should limit information available for immigration enforcement, with state and local agencies ultimately required to adopt the policies by 2027.

The measure establishes two parallel tracks: first, model policies for interactions with immigration enforcement by a July 1, 2026 deadline, complemented by a requirement that agencies implement these policies (or equivalents) by January 1, 2027; second, guidance, audit criteria, and training recommendations for agency databases aimed at limiting information available for immigration enforcement, due by July 1, 2026. The rules issued under this framework would be exempt from standard Administrative Procedure Act processes, and the changes are framed as applying to all cities, including charter cities. The bill also frames findings around privacy rights and trust, and notes that protecting state resources from use in federal immigration actions is a matter of statewide concern, potentially triggering state-mandated-local costs reimbursements if deemed applicable.

Implementation would involve a broad rollout across state and local agencies, with the Attorney General coordinating stakeholder input in the policy development process and subsequent alignment of agency practices, data governance, and vendor contracts with the new guidance. Local agencies would bear the obligation to implement the model policies by the 2027 deadline, while the fiscal framework contemplates reimbursement to localities if the cost of compliance is determined to be a state mandate. The inclusion of private data vendors in the guidance underscores potential procurement and contract considerations, as agencies align third-party systems with the new standards for data access and sharing related to immigration enforcement.

Overall, the proposal situates the issue as a statewide governance matter that seeks to standardize how agencies interact with immigration enforcement and manage related data. By elevating privacy protections and trust as policy aims and extending reach to private-sector data systems, the measure intends to harmonize practices across jurisdictions while leveraging the Attorney General’s guidance to shape day-to-day operations, training, and oversight. Stakeholders—ranging from state and local agencies to vendors and privacy advocates—would monitor the published policies, the content of the database guidance, and how reimbursements are determined and distributed, as implementation proceeds across diverse governance environments.