Illegals Can Vote in CA but Can Still Be Deported for Drug Crimes

It’s a mixed bag for California Governor Jerry Brown as he signed legislation making it easier for illegal aliens to vote but he also vetoed a bill which would have prevented illegal aliens detained for drug crimes from being deported.

Brown signed Assembly Bill 1461 which allows 

Any person who renewed or secured a driver’s license through the DMV may now register to vote, or choose to opt out of doing so. Because illegal immigrants are now eligible for obtaining driver’s licenses, they could be allowed to vote in elections if the Secretary of State’s office fails to verify their eligibility properly.

California officials are already making sure their so-called safeguards against illegal alien voting are mostly ignored.

Although noncitizens’ driver’s licenses in California feature the phrases “Federal Limits Apply” and “not valid for official federal purposes,” True the Vote spokesman Logan Churchwell pointed out that state officials “specifically chose not to make noncitizen license holders searchable in their DMV database.”

Brown did veto Assembly Bill 1351:

a controversial bill that would have protected immigrants with low-level drug charges from being deported, so long as they completed treatment programs, suggesting that the bill “goes too far.”

Apparently, sanctuary cities were not lenient enough for the California legislature.

AB 1351, which was authored by Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), would have ensured that illegal aliens charged with possession and other minor narcotic crimes would only face criminal proceedings, not deportation, if they failed to complete treatment.

In the past, Eggman has said “for those who want to get treatment and get their life right, we should see that with open arms, not see it as a way of deporting somebody,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Times notes that Eggman’s bill focused on a discrepancy between state and federal law. Whereas nearly all drug convictions are permanent under federal law, even if the person undergoes treatment, in California, people charged with minor drug crimes who plead guilty and enter treatment can have the charges wiped from their record once their drug counseling programs are completed.

Additionally, under federal law, both illegal immigrants and those who possess green cards can reportedly be deported for drug convictions. AB 1351 sought to eliminate that possibility at the state level.

So, at least illegal aliens picked up for drug offenses are still eligible for deportation in California. How long that remains the case may be just until the next election when millions of illegals are herded to the polls.