In a legislative update on October 13 (US time), California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a slew of Senate bills he had signed and vetoed. The latter included the SB 509 introduced by Senator Anna Caballero, aka the “transnational repression training” bill. Issuing a veto message for the same, the Democratic politician listed out his “reasons” for not signing the much-contested bill.

“I am returning Senate Bill 509 without my signature,” Newsom began his statement. Noting that even though he appreciated the bill’s “intent to enhance the state’s ability to identify and respond to transnational repression,” he couldn’t push the issue forward without coordination with federal agencies. “By codifying definitions related to this training, this bill would remove the state’s flexibility and ability to avoid future inconsistencies related to this work, especially since no unified federal definition exists,” the governor wrote.

What is Senate Bill 509?

Had the bill been passed, it would have spurred the Office of Emergency Services (OES) push for law enforcement authorities to undergo training to identify and respond to “transnational repression.” While those of Hindu faith believed it would target them, some from the Sikh community saw the bill as a protection against political violence allegedly orchestrated by India (as per certain accusations raised by the US and Canada). Pro-Khalistani activists were particularly among those backing the legislation.

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According to Senator Anna Caballero’s official website, she took a stand against “transnational repression” with SB 509 earlier this year. Introducing it as a “New Legislation to Strengthen Protections for Diaspora Communities Targeted by Foreign Governments,” she pushed for it as a “critical measure to address the growing threat of transnational repression in California.” Assembly members Dr Jasmeet Bains and Esmeralda Soria are the “transnational repression training” bill’s co-authors.

Although it has long been questioned, given the vagueness of the term, Caballero’s office wrote at the time, “Transnational repression refers to the efforts of foreign governments to intimidate, harass, threaten, or harm individuals living outside their home country, often targeting dissidents, activists, journalists, or marginalised communities. These actions can include digital surveillance, coercion, legal manipulation (such as misuse of INTERPOL notices), and even physical violence, undermining human rights and civil liberties in democratic societies.”

Through her bill, the US senator hoped to push for specialised training for law enforcement authorities so they could respond to “persecution of diaspora communities by foreign governments.”

Following its introduction in early 2025, the bill passed the Legislature and headed to Gov Newsom’s desk in September. Detailing why she deemed the bill a need, its Democratic author told Al Jazeera last month, “California can’t protect our most vulnerable communities if our officers don’t even recognize the threat. The bill closes a critical gap in our public safety system and gives law enforcement the training they need to identify foreign interference when it happens in our neighbourhoods.”

SB 509 is based on Jasmeet Bains’  AB 3027, a bill marking the “initial effort to address transnational repression with new legislation.” The Sikh American politician even cited pro-Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing (with ex-Canadian PM Justin Trudeau alleging Indian government’s involvement) among other such cases as the needed fuel for the fact sheet pushed last year.

Hindu-Sikh divide on Senate Bill 509

Hindu and certain Indian-American communities in the United States welcomed the development against what they found to be a highly controversial bill. Contrary to where the Hindu community stands on the issue, their Sikh counterparts have not necessarily been as happy about Newsom vetoing the California bill on foreign repression training.

The Hindu American Foundation and Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) have since welcomed Newsom’s decision not to sign the bill, which Indian-American Ajay Jain Bhutoria, the ex-advisor to President Joe Biden on the Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) National Leadership Council, has especially advocated against.

“The bill, introduced by @CASenCaballero & @AsmJasmeetBains was strongly opposed by coalitions of Hindu, Indian American, Jewish & law-enforcement organizations for its vague terminology and because it defined TNR in a way that could label advocacy against the terrorism-linked Khalistan movement as acting as an agent of a foreign government,'” the Hindu American Foundation wrote on X.

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Similarly, CoHNA called the vetoing of the bill a “a victory for equality before law and a strike against those who misuse their institutional positions and access to bias state institutions into furthering their own personal ideological preferences.”

Also looking back at how the bill initially cleared the House after 21 abstentions, the group added, “We thank the 21 Assembly Members who abstained from voting on the measure and ask them to next time openly oppose such injustice. Nobody deserves to be labelled ‘agents’ of foreign governments for simply having an opinion that runs contrary to the ideological bent of powerful privileged lawmakers, academics and media.”

The Sikh community, on the other hand, had showed massive support for the Senate bill, with more than 50 California Gurdwarae signing a letter and urging the state’s governor to sign SB 509. Back in February, the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund (SALDEF) endorsed Caballero’s decision to introduce the bill.

“This bill takes a crucial first step in combating transnational repression faced by diasporic communities worldwide, including Sikh Americans, and ensuring the protection of American sovereignty and freedom of speech. It not only defines transnational repression as a grave human rights violation from which Californians must be protected, but it also mandates training for state and local law enforcement to recognize and respond to these violations effectively,” read their press release dated Feb 20.

And now, the American Sikh advocacy group, Sikh Coalition, which represents 40% of the US people following the faith has voiced its disappointment about the bill not being signed.

The group’s senior state policy manager responded by saying, “Our goal in supporting SB 509 was the creation of a tool to combat transnational repression and we are committed to seeing that through. While the bill may not have passed, our Sangat’s strength is undeniable.” Their federal policy manager, Harjot Singh, was also quick to react to the development, and reiterated the same sentiment in Punjabi.

Sikh-American assembly member invokes SB 403 veto, targets Newsom

Consequently, Dr Bains hit out against the California governor, stating, “The Governor rejected legislation to prohibit caste discrimination. Now he has vetoed legislation to protect Californians from transnational repression. I am grateful his signature was not required to recognise the 1985 Sikh Genocide.”

Her reaction looked at back at when Newsom returned Senate Bill 403 without a signature in two years ago. The Democrat leader said at the time, “This bill would define ‘ancestry’ for purposes of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, the Unruh Act, an the Education Code to include ‘caste’ and other dimension of ancestry,” and countered it adding that California believed in everyone being treated with dignity and respect, “no matter who they are, where they come from, who they love, or where they live.” He called the bill “unnecessary” since discrimination based on caste was already prohibited.