CA Democrats Push Laws to Bar ICE From Polling Places– All “Blue” States Must Follow– March 1, 2026

     One of the advantages of a federal system that our nation has is that  one or several states  can serve, in former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis’ words, as “laboratories” for other states or for the federal government. California is currently doing just that in an effort to suppress bully-headed tactics by Dictator Donald’s personal ICE police force goons. Many Democrats legitimately fear Trump may attempt to interfere with the upcoming November 2026 midterm elections, because it looks more and more likely that the GOP will be pulverized by “Team Blue,” certainly in the House, and maybe in the Senate as well.Trump stated, a few weeks ago on a conservative podcast, that the GOP should “nationalize” voting in the United States.” https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article314854265.html In his awful February 24, 2026 State of the Union Address, Dictator Donald further pushed his GOP House and Senate majorities to pass the SAVE America Act (NO, Destroy American Democracy Act). This legislation would require people to provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote, show a photo ID at the polls, and give the federal government more access to state voting rolls. 

Translation: Such measures will keep and intimidate low income, minority, and many Democrats in general from  voting. https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article314854265.html

Trump’s Homeland Security head honcho Kristi Noem said it even more clearly, “We’re going to make sure that the right people vote for the right leaders”– obviously, only certified MAGA cult members. https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article314854265.html

      Elections, fortunately, are largely administered by county officers across the U.S. Under our Constitution, states also oversee and interpret their own election laws. They can add protections via state legislation to ensure that voters’ rights to participate in elections are strongly secured. Lawmakers in California, Dictator Donald’s most hated “Blue” State, are pushing proposals to limit federal presence in elections, especially, IMHO, with an eye toward the critical 2026 midterms. Two new legislative proposals co-authored by CA Democratic  State Senators Tom Umberg and Sabrina Cervantes would prevent officers from enforcing federal immigration law within 200 feet of a polling place and would bar the federal government from inspecting voting equipment without a federal court order. https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article314854265.html And these two new bills join more than a dozen bills that CA state legislative Democrats have proposed to limit federal immigration law enforcement in the Golden State. Another bill, authored by  Democratic State Senator Scott Wiener that made it illegal for federal and local law enforcement to wear masks on the job, was struck down this month by a Los Angeles federal judge because it exempted state law enforcement from its provisions. The very same day that law  was struck down, Wiener introduced a bill to correct that problem by including state peace officers under that law. Wiener’s new bill is making its way through the Legislature. State Senators Umberg and Cervantes are hoping to avoid the problem Wiener had with his first bill by generalizing their proposals to all levels of law enforcement upfront.   https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article314854265.html

On February 26, 2026,Cervantes noted, “At the end of the day, we know what Trump is going to do. He told us what he’s going to do. He’s going to dismantle our elections piece by piece.” https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article314854265.html Last month, remember, FBI agents searched a government building in Fulton County, Georgia, home of Atlanta. They were seeking records pertaining to the 2020 election, which Donald continues to maintain were conducted unfairly. These FBI agents did this without a federal court order. https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article314854265.html CA Democratic State Senator Tom Umberg is an experienced legislative hand with a strong military background.  It’s time to meet State Senator Umberg.

Cincinnati, Ohio native Tom Umberg (70) graduated with honors from UCLA in 1977. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and then promoted to Captain. While in the Army, Umberg served with the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea and with NATO forces in Italy. He additionally served as a paratrooper with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, U.S. Army Special Warfare Center, and the XVIIIth Airborne Corporation. He completed the Harvard University Kennedy School of Public Policy Program for Senior Executives in National Security. He received a Master’s in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. Umberg remained in the U.S. Army Reserve, rising to the rank of Colonel. He received a 1980 law degree from UC San Francisco College of Law. In 1980, he was appointed an Assistant U.S. Attorney in CA’s Orange County. In that post, Umberg had a 100% conviction rate prosecuting drug dealers, gang members, white collar criminals, and civil rights cases, including a cross-burning case in Orange County. He served as a military prosecutor between 1980-1985.https://upi.com/Archives/1989//01/04/Man-convicted-in-cross-burning-incident/2587599893200/

Umberg is no stranger to GOP attempts to suppress Democratic voters. In fact, he started his political career because of such an incident. As a U.S. Attorney in 1988,  he received reports that police officers were preventing Latinos from voting in Orange County’s Santa Ana. Umberg and another attorney saw a woman dressed as a police officer (NOT) holding a sign that said, “Non-Citizens Can’t Vote.” After that woman talked to a Latino couple that had come to vote, that couple walked away. Umberg found out that the Orange County GOP allegedly organized this effort to protect one of their incumbents who went on to win his race by 1,000 votes. Umberg resigned his U.S. Attorney position and ran against that GOP winner, Curt Pringle, and defeated him in an Assembly race in 1990. He cited the voter suppression that helped Pringle win his race as the reason he entered politics. Umberg was re-elected in 1992. In 1994, he unsuccessfully ran for State Attorney General against GOPer Dan Lungren. In 1996, after he had practiced as a partner in a prominent law firm, Umberg managed President Bill Clinton’s re-election race and was appointed by Clinton to be Deputy Director of the Office of National Drug Policy in the office of Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey.https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-27-me-289-story.html

Umberg left the Drug Czar office in 2000. He ran and won re-election to the CA Assembly to represent the 69th District. He authored over 60 measures that became law including matters involving hate crimes, white collar crime, and school meal programs. He was the 41st decisive vote on Assembly Bill 849 to legalize same -sex marriage in CA and was very proud of it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Umberg

After two unsuccessful races, one for the State Senate, and one for the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Umberg won election to the CA State Senate in 2018. He was considered a finalist for CA State Attorney General by Gov. Gavin Newsom when Xavier Becerra joined Biden’s Cabinet, but Rob Bonta took that job. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Umberg joint-authored Assembly Bill 860 which codified that county election officials must mail in a ballot to every registered , active voter ahead of the 2020 general election. Umberg currently represents the CA 34th State Senate District (SD). This district includes parts of northern Orange County and a small portion of unincorporated Los Angeles County. In Orange County, it includes the cities of La Habra, Fullerton, Buena Park, Santa Ana, and Anaheim. The Los Angeles County area of the 34th encompasses the unincorporated community of South Whittier.   https://sd34.senate.cagov>district, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Umberg

In 2019, Umberg authored SB (Senate Bill) 450 which created a California Environmental Quality Act exemption. That exemption allowed cities and counties to purchase dilapidated hotels and motels and convert them into transitional housing and was sponsored by the City of Long Beach, CA. This bill unanimously passed the Senate and received only 2 “No” votes in the Assembly. In 2020, Governor Newsom, implemented “Project Homekey.” “Project Homekey” used Umberg’s  SB 450 to provide funding to cities and counties to purchase hotels and motels for conversion to tackle the state’s homeless crisis. https://www.sbsun.com/2020/11/28/project-homekey-changes-lives-for-the-better-tom-umberg-and-robert--garcia/

CA State Senator Tom Umberg is one of the many members of the Democratic Party who are fighting during this era of Trump to give Californians and all Americans a better quality of life. We must get behind him and his fellow “Team Blue” members. We must, of course, also support his efforts to preserve our democracy. Other “Blue” States must pass similar laws stopping ICE from hindering our voting rights. 

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