Thread Part 2: Not enough ink is dedicated to educating people on Kamala Harris' role as CA Attorney General & her record Part 2 highlights her fight for children, immigrants, workers, and trafficking victims. Feel free to bookmark/RT #Kamala2020 #ForThePeople
As AG, Kamala CREATED the Bureau of Children’s Justice in February 2015. It ushered in a new focus and streamlined approach to enforce civil/ criminal laws that uphold children's rights and pursue policies that improve the lives of children.
With Kamala's leadership the CA DOJ was 1 of 3 state agencies accepted by the US DOJ to be part of its national Defending Childhood State Policy Initiative which developed shared priorities to prevent and address children's exposure to violence and the impacts of trauma.
Kamala's BCJ increased DOJ resources for foster kids. I.E. BCJ collaborated to develop statewide guidelines for school districts, county offices of education,& child welfare agencies to better facilitate secure sharing of critical data for the success of students in foster care.
During her tenure, BCJ secured a $168.5million settlement with K12 Inc (for-profit online charter school) for deceptive practices misleading parents/students. As of Kamala's departure, BCJ had 5 major investigations involving juvenile justice, education,& the child welfare system
Long before the national spotlight we see today, as AG Kamala stood up for immigrant children. Mar 2016, she filed an amicus brief in J.E.F.M. v. Loretta Lynch supporting the right of children to have attorneys appointed in immigration removal proceedings
oag.ca.gov/news/press-rel…
Years earlier, Kamala enlisted major law firms to provide pro-bono legal services to address the humanitarian crisis of unaccompanied children entering the US. She also supported legislation to provide $3 million to qualified CA nonprofits to provide legal aid for these children.
Kamala formed partnerships to serve the immigrant community. For instance, she partnered with Service Employees International Union and Univision to host forums across the state to provide info about deferred action programs and help protect immigrants from fraud and wage theft.
In Dec 2012 Kamala issued a bulletin to law enforcement agencies that compliance with an I.C.E. deportation program was not mandatory. Her review showed that 28% of those targeted for deportation in CA as a result of the program were not criminals.
As AG, Kamala issued important bulletins and guidance to CA law enforcement agencies. One such example is her Oct 2015 guidance outlining the law enforcement agencies responsibilities to assist immigrant crime victims in applying for U-visas.
During her tenure Kamala stood up for the rights of workers. In one case, her office secured more than $1 million from eight Northern and Southern California car washes that underpaid workers, denied rest and meal breaks, and created false records of time worked.
As AG Kamala got to work against human trafficking. She convened an anti-trafficking work group of ~100 reps from law enforcement, victim service providers, NGOs, tech co's, and academic institutions to assess challenges/opportunities to fight the $32Billion trafficking industry.
Kamala did not let human traffickers off the hook as AG. In one case, her DOJ-led task force took down a sex trafficking that trafficked young women from Boston/NY to multiple brothels in Sacramento/San Mateo counties rotated them between residential brothels.
Kamala backed reforms in the treatment of trafficking victims by supporting AB1585, a bill providing that a defendant convicted of solicitation or prostitution may petition the court to set aside the conviction if it was the result of his/her status as a victim of trafficking.
Kamala investigated companies suspected of violating the CA Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 requiring large retailers/manufacturers to disclose efforts to eradicate slavery/ human trafficking from their supply chains. She also issued extensive educational materials.
Final thread tidbit: As AG Kamala secured an agreement with major online dating providers to help protect members from identity theft, financial scams & sexual predators by via online safety tools i.e. checking sex offender registries & implementing an abuse reporting system.
In case you missed Part 1 of @KamalaHarris record as Attorney General check it out below. Stay tuned for Part 3 coming soon.
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