Senator Wiener’s Legislation to Continue Protecting Undocumented Immigrants in Court, SB 836, Passes Senate Judiciary Committee

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s Senate Bill 836 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 10-0. It will now be heard by the full Senate. This legislation will extend the safeguards from SB 785 (Wiener, 2018), which protected a person’s immigration status in a public court record, unless the presiding judge determined that immigration status was relevant information. This legislation had a sunset date of January 1, 2022, so it has now expired. SB 836 will remove this sunset date, so immigration status will be permanently protected in cases where it is not relevant to the litigation. 

Under SB 836, immigration status would only be admissible evidence when the presiding judge determines it to be so in a private, in camera hearing. Thus, an attorney will not be permitted to ask a witness about their immigration status unless the judge first determines that the issue is relevant to the case.

Before SB 785 became law, in numerous documented cases, defense attorneys exposed the immigration status of witnesses and victims of crime by asking about immigration status even though such status did not pertain to the case. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had also reportedly monitored and detained undocumented people at courthouses. The critically important protections offered in SB 785 must be extended so that undocumented immigrants – including victims of crime – feel safe coming forward and testifying in California’s courts. 

SB 836 is cosponsored by CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights), Legal Aid at Work, CELA (California Employment Lawyers Association), and the Los Angeles and San Francisco District Attorney’s Offices.

“Undocumented immigrants should never have to fear deportation for coming forward and fulfilling their civic duty by testifying in court,” said Senator Wiener. “We need to ensure that marginalized people – including undocumented immigrants – are given a voice and treated fairly by our justice system. California is a sanctuary state, and our courts should uphold this principle, too. SB 836 will extend SB 785 to continue protecting undocumented people who testify in California’s courts.”