Xavier Becerra: “Again, in response to what the gentleman said, if, in fact, there are these apartment complexes where there are needles…”

“Again, in response to what the gentleman said, if, in fact, there are these apartment complexes where there are needles laying around, if there is debris and filth, those are violations of our current State or local laws which would permit any local law enforcement agency to go in there, if for no other reason than to investigate. They would have the powers to do that. We would not have to wait for the INS to go in there and to do that. So we have to be clear. And many times someone viewing this debate would say, well, why do these folks not want to let local law enforcement agencies uphold the law? That is not the case. Local law enforcement agencies currently have that authority. What we are saying is, careful, we set up these boundaries for a reason. We should not break them unless we have compelling reasons. And when we have an amendment that says do not just help the INS apprehend people who are here as undocumented, but go out there and actively seek them out, that is a big concern.”