Becerra Defends Violating Federal Immigration Law: ‘We’re in the Public Safety Business, Not in the Deportation Business’

EXCERPT:

PERINO: "The Supreme Court said Arizona can’t increase legal issues or penalties, but then why should California be able to decrease it? I guess that’s why I’m wondering how the court would rule differently."
BECERRA: "No, let me explain. Arizona tried to enact laws that don’t deal specifically, directly with immigration. The states don’t have the right, California or Arizona, none of the states have the right to enact laws dealing with immigration. That’s a federal authority."
PERINO: "Right."
BECERRA: "So Arizona’s laws therefor were overturned. California is not enacting immigration laws. We’re simply enacting laws that deal with our public safety officials here and how they conduct their business. We’re in the public safety business, not in the deportation business. And so we don’t try to interfere with the federal government's right to enforce immigration laws. But the federal government can’t tell us that we should do their job for them. And that’s the difference between the Arizona case, that Arizona state laws, in California's case we're simply saying, federal government, you do immigration, you have the right to do that but we have a right to decide how our law enforcement officials at our local and state level administer public safety, not the federal government."