GOP Freshman, a Former Minuteman, Introduces "Arizona-Like" Anti-Immigration Bill AB 26

Update April 6: As expected, the bill died in committee.

The California Assembly Judiciary Committee today discussed AB 26, which is being called an “Arizona-like” law on illegal immigration.

Chronicle’s Politics Blog:

An Arizona-like law to combat illegal immigration has a snowball’s chance in Phoenix of passing the California Legislature, but freshman Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks (San Bernardino County) is giving it a shot.

Donnelly, who has patrolled the California-Mexico border as part of the militant Minutemen citizen group, held a rally at the Capitol today for his bill, AB26. The bill would make a number of changes in state law, including requiring law enforcement to verify the immigration status of anyone who is arrested and suspected of being in the country illegally.

It also would make it illegal to limit the enforcement of federal immigration laws — an attempt to go after sanctuary cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles — and require employers to use the E-verify system while barring them from hiring anyone they know is not here legally.

And more, from Scott Shafer on this morning’s California Report:

Regardless of how they feel about the merits of the bill, some Republicans may wonder about the political wisdom of introducing hot-button legislation that is not only anathema to a demographic group that has become a key difference-maker in the state, but one that is also virtually unpassable, given the balance of power in the legislature and the governor’s office. A few weeks ago, one survey confirmed what everyone pretty much already knew: A good chunk of Latinos have a “widely negative” view of the party.

Some intra-party introspection, at least, has begun. In January, at the well-established election post-mortem series at UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, one former GOP Party chair passed judgment on the party’s disastrous 2010 California electoral results by proclaiming the party’s “brand” in the state as “dead.” The recent state GOP convention also produced a fair amount of dismay from longtime party stalwarts.

Scott Shafer interviewed Tim Donnelly, the freshman assemblyman who introduced the anti-immigration bill, and we’ll post that audio soon, keeping a listen out for any thinking about political downside to the legislation…