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Long Beach Council Reps Gonzalez, Lowenthal, Uranga, Richardson Seek Council Resolution Supporting Obama Admin Exec. Orders Re Immigration (Deportation Relief, Work Authorization) Now Being Challenged In Fed'l Court by 26 States As Costly Unconstitutional Over-Reach

Proposal reiterates (adding multiple "whereas" clauses) current Council support for immigration reform w/ path to citizenship


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(June 22, 2015, 9:15 a.m.) -- Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez, joined by Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal and Councilmembers Roberto Uranga and Rex Richardson, added an item on Friday (June 19) to the Tuesday June 23 City Council agenda [using the Council's minimum notice procedure] that would go beyond a one sentence position statement supporting immigration reform with a path to U.S. citizenship (already part of federal policies supported in City Hall's 2015 federal legislative agenda, approved by the Council in Feb. 2015.)

The June 23 agendized item seeks Council approval for a formal City Council resolution (including a lengthy list of "whereas" clauses) in which the City of Long Beach (1) states that it support the Obama administration's [agendizing memo text] "deferred action programs known as the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) [and will] work towards its implementation" and (2) urges "Congress and the President to reaffirm that addressing comprehensive immigration reform...must occur in a timely manner..."

The first of the proposed "resolved" clauses isn't strictly speaking a legislative matter. It would put the City of Long Beach on record as supporting executive actions by President Obama now being challenged -- thus far successfully -- by 26 states in federal court as a costly, unconstitutional over-reach and violating federal laws.

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In November 2014, President Obama issued executive orders that would let several million people [published estimates range from 4 to 5 million] now in the U.S. illegally to apply for deportation relief and for work authorization. Twenty-six states sued, alleging the President's orders are an unconstitutional over-reach of executive authority and violate federal laws.

In February 2015, a federal district court judge in Texas "stayed" (put on hold via an injunction) the executive actions until a trial on the merits of the constitutional issues, finding that the states (and their taxpayers) would suffer direct financial damages if the executive actions went forward pending trial and also finding that the Obama administration failed to comply with federal rulingmaking procedures in issuing its orders.

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The Obama administration appealed the federal district court's stay to a federal appeals court (three judge panel.) The L.A. County Board of Supervisors (led by Supervisor Hilda Solis [Dem], opposed by Supervisors Mike Antonovich and Don Knabe [Repubs]0 filed a "friend of the court" brief urging the appeals court to lift the stay; L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio [both Dems] joined with over 70 cities and counties in filing a similar amicus brief.

In May 2015, a federal appeals court panel in New Orleans (voting 2-1) declined to lift the stay pending a trial on the merits of the 26 plaintiff states' constitutional and legal challenges, an action could effectively halt the executive orders through the remainder of the Obama administration. (Click court caption at right for full appellate panel opinion.)

Responding to the appeals court ruling upholding the injunctive stay, Supervisor Antonovich praised the outcome, calling the Obama administration's actions "an overreach by the administration" and urging the President to "abandon his unilateral action and work with Congress on real immigration reform."

CA Attorney General Kamala Harris [Dem] now seeking the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring incumbent Dianne Feinstein [Dem], said "President Obama proposed common-sense actions to help address our broken immigration system and provide a path out of the shadows for over one million hard-working undocumented Californians eligible for deferred action...Bringing nearly five million individuals out of the shadows will promote public safety, benefit our economy and extend the American dream." .

The resolution text (below) proposed by Councilmembers Gonzalez, Lowenthal, Uranga and Richardson would put the City of Long Beach on record as supporting the programs the Obama administration sought to implement by executive order, currently stayed by a federal court and upheld 2-1 by a federal appeals court, and says the City will "work toward [their] implementation."

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In her June 23 City Council agendizing memo, Councilwoman Gonzalez writes (initialed as approved by her co-agendizers):

This current [proposed] resolution seeks to strengthen the City Council Directive with specifics noted below.

Recommendation:

Request the City Attorney to draft a resolution with the language below in support of comprehensive immigration reform:

WHEREAS, the current immigration system in the United States is broken and not meeting the needs of a 21st century economy. The current system breaks apart families, is not conducive to family reunification and ignores the economic contribution of the immigrant worker; and

WHEREAS, since 2008 more than 2 million immigrants have been deported and one in ten children face the deportation of a parent; and

WHEREAS, it is not practical or humane to deport the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living within our borders; and

WHEREAS, California has the largest population of immigrants, both documented and undocumented where one in ten workers is an undocumented immigrant, and immigrants are a vibrant, productive, and vital part of the state's growing economy, holding jobs in key industries such as agriculture, science, technology, service, health care and manufacturing; and

WHEREAS, the City of Long Beach recognizes that immigration reform must protect the rights of all families to stay together, regardless of immigration status, family structure, sexual orientation, gender identity, and to include same-sex couples, and provide sufficient family-based channels for migration in the future; and

WHEREAS, Los Angeles County is home to nearly 900,000 undocumented immigrants, the highest number of undocumented individuals in California; and

WHEREAS, the City of Long Beach is the second most diverse city in the United States with immigrants and refugees from many parts of the world who work, own homes, operate businesses and contribute to the. economic, social, and cultural well-being of the City; and

WHEREAS, a pathway to citizenship should not be conditioned upon shortsighted border enforcement strategies and the criminalization of immigrants; and

WHEREAS, the President of the United States took Executive Action to provide the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), it is estimated that more than 1.1 million of Californians are eligible for one form of executive action; and

WHEREAS, The Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County has passed a motion supporting the Executive Action issued by the President of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Estimates by UCLA's North American Integration and Development Center indicate that L.A. County will see an additional $1.1 billion in tax revenues and the creation of an additional 38,500 jobs from the Executive Action initiatives; and

WHEREAS, the consequence of unbalanced immigration enforcement have caused fear and trauma in immigrant and refugee communities and have increased civil and human rights violations, family separation and immigrant deaths; and

WHEREAS, the City of Long Beach and local law enforcement must seek to restore trust between immigrant and refugee communities by reducing racial profiling and increasing transparency and accountability of the involvement of federal immigration authorities in local law enforcement; and

WHEREAS, the Long Beach City Council acknowledges that civil and human rights are deeply rooted in the fabric of democratically principled societies, and must be instilled in all elements of our enforcement apparatus to ensure every individual's dignity and humanity is upheld, recognized and respected; and

WHEREAS, the City of Long Beach passed a resolution in 2010 in support of the federal DREAM Ad (and as part of the 2015 Federal Legislative Platform), and strongly believes immigrants strengthen the community economically and culturally, and that it welcomes their contributions to soctety.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Long Beach City Council does hereby support the administration's deferred action programs known as the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), and will work towards its implementation;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Long Beach City Council urges Congress and the President to reaffirm that addressing comprehensive immigration reform is an urgent federal responsibility, and must occur in a timely manner that is guided by our nation's values of due process and civil and human rights.

Fiscal Impact:

There is no fiscal impact.

On February 3, 2015, the City Council approved City Hall's federal legislative agenda (a listing of multiple policies supported or opposed by LB City Hall) which, at the urging of Councilwoman Gonzalez, added the following statement: "Support comprehensive immigration reform that will provide a dignified path to United States citizenship, strengthen the nation’s workforce and the economy."

The Council vote adopting the 2015 legislative agenda was 6-2 (Councilmembers Price and Mungo dissenting after voicing opposition to matters other than the immigration verbiage) with the 4th district Council seat then vacant, now occupied by Councilman Daryl Supernaw.

Developing.

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