California pastor warns of ‘dangerous’ new bill
Author and pastor Jack Hibbs shares his warnings to Christians in California over a new custody bill on ‘Fox News @ Night.’
A California pastor is calling on families to flee the state if a bill passes which would expand the categories of who can claim "caregiver" rights over a child.
"Legal experts have concluded that this very well might be the worst, most dangerous legislation that has ever come out of California," Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills warned, in an interview with Fox News Digital. "If this bill passes, you have to grab your kid and leave the state for your child's protection."
Hibbs is leading a rally on Tuesday at 1 p.m. PT at the Capitol in Sacramento urging Governor Gavin Newsom to veto AB 495, called the Family Preparedness Plan Act. The bill intends to protect immigrant children at risk of family separation through immigration enforcement.
The bill allows a caregiver who is a relative or has "an established familial or mentoring relationship with the child" to sign a caregiver's authorization affidavit and be given the legal right to enroll a minor in school and consent to school-related medical care on behalf of the minor, its text says.
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Calvary Chapel Chino Hills Pastor Jack Hibbs is leading a rally on Aug. 19 calling on state lawmakers to reject AB 495, a bill he argues would threaten parental rights. (Real Impact/Getty Images)
Hibbs and parental rights groups in the state argue the bill is too broad as currently written, and could strip parents of their authority to make school-related medical decisions for their children.
Schools are under no obligation to conduct further inquiries or investigations, the bill states. There is no requirement in the bill for schools to get parental consent, check photo I.D., or do a background check on those who complete the affidavit, Hibbs argued. The affidavit requests a driver’s license number, but caregivers may provide a Social Security or Medi-Cal number instead.
Hibbs said that legal experts he’s consulted have called the bill a "human trafficker, pedophile, and kidnapper’s dream come true."
If signed into law, similar bills could crop up in other liberal states across the nation, he warned.
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Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference on October 6, 2022, in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Hibbs argued that California's Education code 234.7 already protects immigrant students in schools in cases of immigration enforcement.
He hopes to draw enough attention to the bill to warn families but also hold Newsom accountable if he signs it into law.
"This is where Newsom must be stopped," Hibbs said, referring to the governor’s rumored 2028 presidential aspirations.
"Let’s make him own this bill. Let's tie it around his neck and let it be a letter that he wears that he has no regard for parental rights and no regard for federal law," Hibbs said.
Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez, an AB 495 sponsor, clarified in a "FAQ" document that the bill "does not create any form of legal or physical custody under California law."
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Rodriguez and Newsom’s office did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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