Professor Larson Comments for KQED on California Legislature and Trump Administration

Professor Carlton Larson commented for San Francisco public radio station KQED on the California Legislature’s response to president-elect Donald Trump’s call for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.  

Among other measures, Democrats have introduced a bill that would prohibit state and local authorities from using their resources to help federal officials with deportations. Professor Larson said that while California can’t actively oppose federal law, it can passively decline to cooperate with federal enforcement efforts.

“If California officials simply want to sit back and not lift a finger with respect to federal immigration laws or any other federal law, they don’t have to,” Larson said. “The federal government can’t force state officers to enforce federal law. So that’s a fairly significant power.”

Carlton Larson's research interests focus on constitutional law and legal history, with a strong emphasis on the 18th century.