Category: Immigration

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Connecting California: How can California stop ICE overreach? The answer might lie in a 1972 case from Humboldt County

ICI July 20, 2025

Joe Mathews: The existence of such a path may surprise today’s Californians. That’s because our police insist that they are powerless to challenge unlawful actions or abuses by federal agents. Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell advised officers that, when called to a scene where citizens allege federal abuses, all they can do is verify the identities of federal agents.

In this position, McDonnell and police are not just wrong — they are violating their oaths to enforce state and local laws. The Clifton case makes this plain.

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The Economic Times: On US Independence Day, 44% in California, the world’s 4th largest economy, want to secede – is a breakaway vote next?

ICI July 4, 2025

California independence movement is gaining momentum, with fresh 2025 YouGov poll results revealing that most Californians now trust Sacramento more than Washington. A rising 71% want California autonomous status, and 56% say Californians would be better off with peaceful secession. From controlling state borders like a country to arresting rogue ICE agents, residents are leaning into California self-governance more than ever.

The push for California independence isn’t just symbolic—it’s tied to land rights, immigration enforcement, and even tax reform. Dive into the full story to see what Californians really think about their future outside federal control.

Federal agents stage outside Gate E of Dodger Stadium on June 19. Sporadic immigration raids continue to roil Southern California. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

LA Times: Kidnappers or ICE agents? LAPD grapples with surge in calls from concerned citizens

ICI July 3, 2025

Libor Jany: According to a new poll from YouGov, a public opinion research firm, nearly three-quarters of Californians believe local police officers should arrest federal immigration agents who “act maliciously or knowingly exceed their authority under federal law.”

The same survey also found that a majority of state residents want to completely forbid California officials from collaborating with immigration enforcement and make it easier for citizens to file lawsuits when “authorities violate the due process rights of immigrants.”

Stock photograph showing the California state flag on December 2, 2023, in Solvang, California. George Rose/GETTY

Newsweek: California Independence Support Hits ‘Record High’

ICI July 1, 2025

James Bickerton: A new poll has found 44 percent of Californian adults would vote for the state to leave the United States and become a fully independent nation, which the Independent California Institute (ICI) told Newsweek is a “record high poll result for secession.”

The latest poll also found 50 percent of Californians said they trust state authorities in Sacramento more than the federal government in Washington D.C., with only 23 percent having the opposite view. This was a stark deterioration in the federal government’s position since the last ICI survey in January, which put the figures at 34 percent for Sacramento and 18 percent for Washington D.C. respectively.

Plentiful Popplies. By Kevin (slworking2 on Flickr). CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Poll: Californians ready to govern themselves, stop just short of secession

ICI June 29, 2025

50% of Californians say they trust Sacramento more than Washington—only 23% say the reverse.

71% say California would be better off with special autonomous status within the U.S.

44% of Californians would vote for a ballot measure for peaceful, legal secession—but 54% would vote against.

72% of Californians want California police to arrest federal immigration officers that exceed their authority or act maliciously.

80% of Californians want to control borders with other states “like a country.”

Californians endorse more than a dozen changes to state policy that would make California more autonomous.

annie-lofthouse

Texas v. What? 5 Big Myths about Peaceful Secession from the U.S.

C.C. Marin April 13, 2025

For at least the third time in the last decade, there’s an initiative in circulation that would let Californians start the process of California becoming its own country.

In many ways, California secession is an idea whose time has come. When we polled Californians in January, 61% of them said California would be better off if peacefully became “an independent country with a friendly relationship with the U.S., like Canada.”

At this point, the #1 barrier to California leaving the U.S. is not legal, political, or economic. It’s in Californians’ own minds.

California flag trying to escape

Poll: As Trump Is Inaugurated, Californians Seek Independence

ICI January 19, 2025

Highlights: 61% of Californians polled say California would be better off if it peacefully seceded. 77% say California should control its state borders “more like a country”. 63% support using hardball tactics in the U.S. House to gain autonomy. Californians now feel more Californian than American overall.

Please submit press inquiries to press@ic.institute.

Photo credit: Ken Lund via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0

Democracy Local: How to Achieve Local Autonomy

ICI November 2, 2024

Fully 68% of Californians believe that California would be better off if California negotiated a special autonomous status within the U.S., according to a poll that my think tank, the Independent California Institute, commissioned from YouGov earlier this year…. Why might Californians want more independence from the federal government?