California Gov. Jerry Brown and the state's top Senate leader have agreed to legislation that would further restrict interactions between state and local law enforcement officers and federal immigration agents. </s> SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California Gov. Jerry Brown and the state Senate leader said Monday they've agreed to changes in proposed legislation that would further restrict interactions between law enforcement officers and federal immigration agents.

The agreement came on the same day the state sued the Trump administration over its decision to end a program that shields young immigrants from deportation.

Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, agreed to changes demanded by Brown following fierce opposition from sheriffs and other law-enforcement officials.

The bill would still prohibit state and local police from asking about people's immigration status or enforcing federal immigration laws.

However, following Monday's changes, it would preserve the ability of law officers to cooperate on federal task forces as long as the task force doesn't specifically work on immigration enforcement.

Police and jail officials would be able to notify U.S. immigration agents if they detain people with convictions for some 800 crimes, including serious felonies, battery, assault and sexual crimes.

Immigration agents would still be allowed to interview immigrants in jail, and immigration agents would not be barred from accessing state databases.

"This bill protects public safety and people who come to California to work hard and make this state a better place," Brown said in a statement.

Brown and de Leon reached their agreement in the last week of the legislative year. The Assembly and Senate must approve the measure by Friday or delay action until next year.

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement had no immediate comment.

California already has some of the most protective laws in the country for immigrants detained by law enforcement. The state has limited the ability of police to detain immigrants for federal deportation agents since 2014, and requires jailers to inform inmates if agents are trying to detain immigrants.

Illinois recently passed even more protective legislation that bars law enforcement from detaining immigrants solely for deportation, said Shiu Ming Cheer, senior staff attorney at the National Immigration Law Center.

A handful of cities including Chicago and San Francisco, meanwhile, are refusing to cooperate with new federal requirements for tougher immigration enforcement, prompting the Trump administration to threaten to withhold funding.

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood, a critic of the initial state bill, said sheriffs would be discussing the latest version on a call Tuesday and declined to discuss the details. He noted that ICE generally seeks cooperation on people convicted of major crimes.

Immigrant rights groups held a noisy rally in the Capitol last week urging Brown and de Leon not to back off from the strict immigrant protections de Leon originally proposed in the wake of Donald Trump's election as president.

But the activists generally praised the compromise with Brown.

"We hope that it will serve as a model for other states and encourage them to adopt similar protections," said Jenny Pasquarella, immigrant rights director for the American Civil Liberties Union of California. "This is where the dragnet is."

The legislative deal was announced the same day that California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said he's filing a lawsuit over the Trump administration's decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects young immigrants living in the U.S. illegally from deportation.

The lawsuit's legal arguments largely mirror those already filed in a lawsuit last week by 15 other states and the District of Columbia. Attorney generals for the states of Maine, Maryland and Minnesota joined California's lawsuit.

More than 200,000 of the 800,000 participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program live in California.

The University of California has also filed a legal challenge to ending the program.

Also on Monday, Mexico Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray said he and other Mexican diplomats are urging members of Congress to make the DACA program permanent and that he is not expecting an immediate influx of hundreds of thousands of young people back to Mexico.

Associated Press writers Sudhin Thanawala in San Francisco, Amy Taxin in Orange County, Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento and Marine Villeneuve in Augusta, Maine, contributed reporting.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California police chiefs have dropped their opposition to a weakened “sanctuary state” bill that would restrict their interactions with immigration authorities, but sheriffs remained opposed Tuesday saying the measure would still limit their authority to work with federal officers in jails.

The bill was introduced in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s election as California Democrats looked to protect immigrants fearing the new Republican president would ramp up deportation. It was watered down on Monday to win support from Gov. Jerry Brown and is expected to be considered in the Legislature on Friday.

The legislative push comes as lawmakers and Brown look to spend $30 million on scholarships and legal assistance for young immigrants living illegally in the U.S. The state is also pursues two lawsuits against Trump over his decision to end a program that protects some young immigrants from deportation.

Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon’s SB54 originally would have strictly limited the authority for state and local law enforcement officers to cooperate and share information with immigration agents, stepping up statewide sanctuary for people living in the country illegally. It drew sharp condemnation from law-enforcement officials who warned that they’d be unable to work with federal authorities on task forces or ensure dangerous criminals were deported upon release from jail.

With changes announced Monday, it will now allow local officers to transfer immigrants to federal authorities if they’ve been convicted of one of some 800 crimes.

It’s better, the sheriffs said, but still problematic.

“We’re passing laws to not communicate with other governmental agencies and I just struggle with that,” Kings County Sheriff David Robinson, a vocal critic of the bill, told The Associated Press. “I’m still adamantly opposed to the bill. It does nothing to protect immigrants, whether legal or illegal. It only protects criminals.”

Immigration advocates generally applauded the latest version, even with DeLeon’s concessions. For them, the bill delivers a rare victory during Trump’s presidency, preserving some protections for people in the country illegally and adding others.

Police chiefs dropped their opposition because the final version will allow officers to collaborate with federal investigations while reaffirming that they “should not be used to assist in mass deportations,” Gardena Police Chief Ed Medrano, president of the California Police Chiefs Association, said in a statement.

Sheriffs, however, held firm against the bill. Much of the bill’s impact will now fall on jails, which are run by elected sheriffs who say they’ll take the blame if they release someone who ends up committing another crime.

The final version prohibits law enforcement officials from asking about a person’s immigration status or participating in immigration enforcement efforts. The bill prohibits law enforcement officials from being deputized as immigration agents or arresting people on civil immigration warrants.

“There’s so much in this bill that prohibits us from doing stuff we already don’t do,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood, another outspoken critic, said in a phone interview. “It’s a horrible bill that is now made where it has a minimal impact on my county.”

Cynthia Buiza, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center, acknowledged local law enforcement may already be following many of the bill’s provisions but that it was significant to enshrine them in law.

“It’s not perfect but there are some reassuring things,” she said Tuesday. “This is a step in the right direction.”

The new legislation will allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents access state law enforcement databases – something de Leon sought to prohibit in his original proposal.

Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the bill was a “timely and important step” toward divorcing the state from immigration enforcement and “will serve to protect communities throughout California.” </s> SACRAMENTO (AP) — California sheriffs said Tuesday they remain opposed to legislation that would put new restrictions on their interactions with federal immigration authorities despite changes demanded by Gov. Jerry Brown that significantly scaled back the bill’s reach.

California police chiefs, meanwhile, dropped their opposition saying their concerns were addressed. Sheriffs, who oversee jails, said the updated bill will preserve many important powers for them but could still endanger the public by limiting their ability to cooperate with immigration agents looking to deport people being released from custody.

“We’re passing laws to not communicate with other governmental agencies and I just struggle with that,” Kings County Sheriff David Robinson, a vocal critic of the bill, told The Associated Press. “I’m still adamantly opposed to the bill. It does nothing to protect immigrants, whether legal or illegal. It only protects criminals.”

The bill, SB54, was introduced in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s election as California Democrats looked to protect immigrants fearing the new Republican president would ramp up a deportation dragnet.

The final version prohibits law enforcement officials from asking about a person’s immigration status or participating in immigration enforcement efforts. The bill prohibits law enforcement officials from being deputized as immigration agents or arresting people on civil immigration warrants. It would allow immigration agents to interview people in custody, though they can no longer have permanent office space in jails.

In its statement, the sheriffs association said law-enforcement agencies don’t do most of that anyway.

“There’s so much in this bill that prohibits us from doing stuff we already don’t do,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood, another outspoken critic, said in a phone interview. “It’s a horrible bill that is now made where it has a minimal impact on my county.”

Cynthia Buiza, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center, acknowledged local law enforcement may already be following many of the bill’s provisions but that it was significant to enshrine them in law.

“It’s not perfect but there are some reassuring things,” she said Tuesday. “This is a step in the right direction.”

The bill, written by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, originally would have severely limited the authority for law enforcement officers to cooperate and share information with immigration agents.

With changes announced Monday, which won Brown’s support for the legislation, it will now allow local officers to transfer immigrants to federal authorities if they’ve been convicted of one of some 800 crimes, mostly felonies or misdemeanors that can be charged as felonies.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will also be allowed to access state law enforcement databases — something de Leon sought to prohibit in his original proposal.

Immigrant advocacy groups lobbied hard for the bill and pressured de Leon not to water it down, but they’ve cheered the compromise bill. In announcing the agreement with Brown, DeLeon’s office issued statements of support from many immigrant advocacy groups. Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said the new version “constitutes a victory for migrants.”

Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the bill was a “timely and important step” toward divorcing the state from immigration enforcement and “will serve to protect communities throughout California.”

The bill is expected to be considered in the Assembly and Senate on Friday.

Meanwhile, Brown and top lawmakers announced Tuesday that they plan to spend $30 million helping young immigrants with legal services and college financial aid.

The announcement comes in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to end a program that gives temporary protection from deportation to people brought to the country illegally as children or by parents who overstayed visas.

© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The state of California and city of San Francisco are suing the U.S. Department of Justice over President Donald Trump’s sanctuary city restrictions on public safety grants.

In a news conference Monday, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and City Attorney Dennis Herrera, both Democrats, announced the lawsuit, which makes California the first state to challenge the administration on its sanctuary city policy of denying funds to cities that limit cooperation with enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

San Francisco also filed its own federal lawsuit Friday. Becerra said he was filing on behalf of smaller cities and counties that may not have the resources to challenge the federal administration.

He said about $28 million is at stake for programs that fight and prevent crime because the president wants to impose his immigration policies on local government.

“It’s a low blow to our men and women who wear the badge, for the federal government to threaten their crime fighting resources in order to force them to do the work of the federal government when it comes to immigration enforcement,” Becerra said.

Chicago filed a similar suit last week, arguing that the Trump administration’s bid to withhold public safety grants from so-called sanctuary cities is illegal.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said the Trump administration “will not simply give away grant dollars to city governments that proudly violate the rule of law and protect criminal aliens.”

The California Legislature is considering a measure nicknamed the “sanctuary state bill” that would limit state and local police from cooperating with federal immigration agents. Supporters of the legislation, SB54, say it rebukes the president for his crackdown on illegal immigration.

The Senate passed the measure earlier this year, sending it to the Assembly where it still requires a vote. It would also need approval from Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who has said the bill needs changes but has declined to say specifically what he wants altered. </s> SAN FRANCISCO — The state of California and city of San Francisco said Monday that they are suing the U.S. Department of Justice over President Donald Trump’s sanctuary city restrictions on public safety grants.

the announcement, turning California into the first state to challenge the administration on its policy of denying some public safety funds to sanctuary cities and counties that limit cooperation with enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

San Francisco also filed its own federal lawsuit Friday regarding federal restrictions on the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants, which both men said provide for a range of crime fighting and crime prevention programs. They said California could lose $28 million and San Francisco could lose $1.5 million in annual funding.

“It’s a low blow to our men and women who wear the badge, for the federal government to threaten their crime fighting resources in order to force them to do the work of the federal government when it comes to immigration enforcement,” Becerra said.

Chicago filed a similar lawsuit last week, arguing that the Trump administration’s bid to withhold public safety grants from so-called sanctuary cities is illegal.

In response, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said the Trump administration “will not simply give away grant dollars to city governments that proudly violate the rule of law and protect criminal aliens.”

Jim Brulte, chairman of the California GOP, criticized the lawsuits, saying that “allowing felons, allowing repeat felons to roam free for political purposes is bad public policy.”

Supporters have said the sanctuary protections promote overall public safety by allowing immigrants who are in the country illegally to report crimes without fear of federal deportation.

 Becerra and Herrera are strong supporters of sanctuary protections, which largely prohibit local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

Opponents have said people who are in the country illegally do not deserve the protections because they should not be in the U.S.

The California Legislature is considering a measure nicknamed the “sanctuary state bill” that would limit state and local police from cooperating with federal immigration agents. Supporters of the legislation, SB54, have said it rebukes the president for his crackdown on illegal immigration.

 The Senate passed the measure earlier this year, sending it to the Assembly where it still requires a vote. It would also need approval from Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who has said the bill needs changes but has declined to specify what he wants altered.

San Francisco sued the Trump administration in January over the president’s move to cut funding to immigrant-protecting “sanctuary cities” via executive order. A federal judge temporarily halted the executive order as the lawsuit progresses.

Becerra said he was filing the state’s lawsuit on behalf of smaller California cities and counties that may not have the resources to challenge the U.S. administration. </s> For Mr. de León, the legislation was the most high profile attempt to expand protections for undocumented immigrants in the Trump era. But from the beginning, the California Sheriff’s Association opposed the effort, saying it would increase public safety risks. And Gov. Brown voiced reservations in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” last month. Immigrant rights activists staged protests for the legislation, arguing it was necessary to defend people from expanded deportation efforts and assuage fears in immigrant communities.

The bill still needs to be approved by the Assembly before the legislature adjourns at the end of this week, where it is expected to pass.
• A measure aimed at slowing the revolving door of California legislators becoming lobbyists was given final approval by lawmakers Monday and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown for consideration. [Los Angeles Times]
• California lawmakers moved to give more tenant protections to immigrants living in the state illegally. [The Sacramento Bee]
• Mike Cagney, a co-founder of Social Finance, an online lender, is stepping down as chief executive and chairman after sexual harassment claims at the start-up. [The New York Times]
• California will use cap-and-trade revenue for a massive investment in clean trucks, buses, cars and other vehicles. [Los Angeles Times]
• Tesla remotely enabled free software upgrades for Florida drivers during Hurricane Irma, sparking questions about its degree of control over its cars. [The New York Times]
• East Bay Congressman Eric Swalwell is among a group of Golden State ex-prosecutors who are connecting the dots in the Trump-Russia case. [Oakland Magazine]
• A well-known East Bay developer was arraigned Tuesday in federal court on an indictment that accuses him of engaging in fraud to make illegal campaign contributions to Mr. Swalwell. [San Francisco Chronicle]
• This week marks the official start of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, exhibitions from San Diego to Santa Barbara that explore Latin American and Latino art. Visitors to the shows are likely to encounter tons of new work, and two key words: Latinx and Chicanx. [The New York Times]
• Last winter unexpectedly dumped record amounts of rain and snow throughout California. What will this winter bring? [The Mercury News]
• An ancient ceremonial practice of regalia is flourishing anew among northern California Native American Tribes. [The New York Times]
• A tale of two streaks: While Cleveland’s baseball team is on an 18-game winning streak, one of the longest in history, the Dodgers have somehow lost 10 in a row. [The New York Times]
• Once an industry of outlaws, sophisticated marijuana businesses in California have begun reaching far outside the core industry to fill high-level positions. [GreenState]

You’ve heard of bomb-sniffing dogs. But a yellow labrador retriever has been putting his nose to the ground on Santa Cruz Island in an effort to sniff out a different kind of threat: a species of invasive ant.

The dog, Tobias, is working with the Nature Conservancy group, helping them in their search for Argentine ants that researchers attempted to wipe out in 2009 after they were found disrupting local wildlife.

“He’s good at his job, and he enjoys it a lot,” Christina Boser, an ecologist with the group, told the Associated Press.

So far the labrador has been unsuccessful in his search, which suggests that the scientists’ effort eight years ago paid off.

Tobias, who is owned by the Working Dogs for Conservation organization was adopted after being found wandering in Helena, Mont., in 2016.

Though he was unruly at first, his new owners soon found that he was extremely skilled at hunting down toys, and began to train him to sniff out certain species. Along with the ants, he has also helped to detect quagga mussels, another invasive species, in Montana.

According to his biography on the organization’s website,“He brings total commitment to each search and is rewarded with his Wubba toy.”

Want to submit a photo for possible publication? You can do it here.

California Today goes live at 6 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes.com.

California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley. </s> SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The state of California and city of San Francisco are suing the U.S. Department of Justice over President Donald Trump’s sanctuary city restrictions on public safety grants.

In a news conference Monday, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and City Attorney Dennis Herrera, both Democrats, announced the lawsuit, which makes California the first state to challenge the administration on its sanctuary city policy of denying funds to cities that limit cooperation with enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

“This president is bent on trying to vilify immigrants and punish cities that prioritize real, effective public safety over splitting up hard-working families,” Herrera said in a prepared statement. “Trump attacked sanctuary cities in January with his unlawful executive order. We stopped him in court. Then he tried to sneak through a change in the law by burying it deep in his budget. Now he’s trying to have one of his departments rewrite the rules.”

“So we’re back in court once again, with allies by our side, to compel him to follow the law,” Herrera added.

Chicago filed a similar suit last week, arguing that the Trump administration’s bid to withhold public safety grants from so-called sanctuary cities is illegal.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said the Trump administration “will not simply give away grant dollars to city governments that proudly violate the rule of law and protect criminal aliens.” </s> SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The state of California and city of San Francisco are suing the U.S. Department of Justice over President Donald Trump's sanctuary city restrictions on public safety grants.

In a news conference Monday, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and City Attorney Dennis Herrera, both Democrats, announced the lawsuit, which makes California the first state to challenge the administration on its sanctuary city policy of denying funds to cities that limit cooperation with enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

Chicago filed a similar suit last week, arguing that the Trump administration's bid to withhold public safety grants from so-called sanctuary cities is illegal.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said the Trump administration "will not simply give away grant dollars to city governments that proudly violate the rule of law and protect criminal aliens."
California Governor Jerry Brown signs a bill that will protect all California residents, regardless of their immigration status, from unnecessary detention and questioning; similar to those ordinances in sanctuary cities.