To: The California State House, The California State Senate, and Governor Gavin Newsom

Protect our immigrant neighbors - pass Senate Bill 54.

Forced deportations - that divide parents from children, disrupt communities, and sow fear and distress - do not represent California values. They are not our values. As people of faith, we affirm the common humanity and dignity of all people. As Californians, we reject the idea that our public servants, our state and local law enforcement, should abet the rounding up and deportation of our friends, neighbors, and family members. We urge you to protect the values of compassion and social justice that best represent our state by passing Senate Bill 54, the California Values Act.

We sign in support of this interfaith petition, which was initiated by the California Catholic Conference, California Church IMPACT, National Council of Jewish Women California, Friends Committee on Legislation of California, Lutheran Office of Public Policy California, Bend the Arc, Reform California and Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California.

Why is this important?

Every day we read about the effects of deportations and the threat of deportation faced by our immigrant neighbors: five-year olds too anxious to go to kindergarten; parents who must make "contingency" plans for their U.S. citizen children; crime victims and witnesses too frightened to call police; people afraid to go to the jobs they depend on to feed their families. We hear the stories and see the stress on the faces of the people we work with, who live on our block, the people we teach or go to school with, the families who worship alongside us.

The California Values Act will ensure that state and local resources are not used to fuel mass deportations, separate families, or spread fear throughout our communities.

Under the California Values Act, state and local law enforcement agencies and school police and security departments will not engage in immigration enforcement. No state or local resources will be used to investigate, detain, detect, report, or arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes. And regardless of whether state or local resources are implicated, no state or local law enforcement agency will detain or transfer any person for deportation without a judicial warrant.

Civic institutions that serve the public - like schools, health facilities, courthouses, and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement- will remain safe and accessible to all California residents, regardless of immigration status. They will establish and publicize policies that limit assistance with immigration enforcement to the fullest extent possible consistent with federal and state law.

Please sign this petition and ask your legislators and Gov. Brown to affirm California's values by enacting Senate Bill 54 into law.