Governor Gavin Newsom just signed a fairly sensible-sounding bill allowing immigrant parents to name a caregiver for their kids in case they are deported. Crazed conservatives are reacting by calling it the “Legalized Child Kidnapping Bill.”

You are well aware by now that in the Bay Area, and nationwide, the Trump administration is detaining and deporting people like mad, even some who are legitimately US citizens. Many of the people being detained and deported are parents with children.

So what happens to the kids when their parents are deported? A recent CNN article notes that many have “ended up in the care of relatives, neighbors, friends, coworkers and even strangers after ICE detained or deported their parents,” and adds that quite a few just end up shoved into the foster care system.

Governor Gavin Newsom's office says that “In California, nearly a million US citizen children are estimated to be at risk of being separated from a parent because of immigration enforcement.” And for that reason, Newsom just signed a bill allowing immigrant parents to designate a caretaker for their children, as the Associated Press reports.

“Our children deserve to feel safe at home, in school and in the community,” Newsom said in a Sunday night press release after he signed the bill. “We are putting on record that we stand by our families and their right to keep their private information safe, maintain parental rights and help families prepare in case of emergencies.”

There are a few other aspects to this AB 495 bill that’s dubbed "Family Preparedness Plan Act of 2025." The bill also bars childcare providers from collecting immigration information about parents, and allows parents to nominate designated temporary legal guardians in family court. But the part allowing for parents who are the victims of family separation to “expand the type of relative who is authorized to execute a caregiver’s authorization affidavit,” (that is, letting relatives become the child’s caretaker when the parent suddenly disappears) has provoked right-wing outrage.

What kind of right-wing outrage?

Check out the tweet above from the Monterey County Republican Party, with an AI-generated Devil Gavin, calling the bill “A Child Trafficker’s and Kidnapper’s Dream Bill” and saying it “creates legal loopholes that make kidnapping children easy.” The inference seems to be that immigrants’ relatives are somehow much more likely to be kidnappers or involved in child trafficking.

Funny, though… who exactly have we seen legally kidnapping children here?

California has passed a number of other bills trying to push back against ICE in the current legislative session, though many of them are unlikely to accomplish anything. ICE is a federal agency that the state cannot control, and they will continue their lawbreaking at Trump’s behest regardless. But this particular new law could at least influence things, because ICE does not have jurisdiction over family courts, and how those courts resolve custody matters.

And there are likely many more cases of custody involving parents who’ve been deported coming to those family courts in the weeks and months to come.

Related: Leaders Across Bay Area Launch Fund for Families of Immigrants Targeted by ICE [SFist]

Image: SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 21: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bills related to redrawing the state’s congressional maps on August 21, 2025 in Sacramento, California. In a move to counter Texas House Republicans’ plan to redraw the state’s congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, California Democrats took up a proposed constitutional amendment to temporarily redraw their own congressional maps, potentially creating five additional U.S. House seats for their party. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)