California threatens to prosecute business for sharing employee information with federal gov't

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- California Attorney General Xavier Becerra warned Thursday that the employers who give information on employees to federal authorities will be prosecuted by the state and could face a fine up to 10,000 U.S dollars.

At a press conference Thursday to react to the alleged potential sweeps in Northern California launched by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Becerra said that the state's Department of Justice was not aware of such a planned raid.

However, he emphasized that new laws of the Golden State that took effect Jan. 1 restrict local law enforcement cooperation with federal agents and prohibit businesses from voluntarily allowing immigration officers to access or obtain employee records without a court order or subpoena.

"It's important, given these rumors out there, to let people and more specifically employers know that if they voluntarily start giving up information about their employees in ways that contradict our new California laws they subject themselves to actions by my office or local prosecutors enforcing AB 450," he said.

"We will prosecute those who violate the law," he warned, saying employers who violate the new law face a fine up to 10,000 dollars.

Becerra's remarks came after reports said recently that federal immigration agents planed to target Northern California communities for deportations due in part to the state's "sanctuary" law.

A state law, signed by California Governor Jerry Brown last October, vastly limits the cooperation between state and local law enforcement officers with ICE, allowing California to become a "Sanctuary State" in the country.

ICE's acting director Thomas Homan told a Fox News host earlier this month that "California better hold on tight ... If the politicians in California don't want to protect their communities, then ICE will." Enditem