On Thursday, October 5th, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law nearly a dozen new immigration-related bills, including AB 450, which prohibits employers from cooperating with federal immigration authorities in the absence of a judicial warrant or court order.  Among other things, the new law:

• Prohibits employers from voluntarily consenting to an immigration enforcement agent’s entering nonpublic areas of the workplace without a warrant;

• Prohibits employers from voluntarily consenting to an immigration enforcement agent’s accessing, reviewing or obtaining employment records without a subpoena or court order;

• Prohibits employers from reverifying the employment eligibility of a current employee at a time or in a manner not required by federal law; and

• Requires employers to provide notice to current employees of an inspection of I-9 forms and other employment records by an immigration agency within 72 hours of receiving the federal notice of inspection.

Penalties for failure to comply with the new law range from $2,000 to $10,000 per violation.

Gov. Brown signed the controversial new laws over objections from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the California State Sheriffs’ Association, among other groups.