(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. [Scroll down for photos and further.] |
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. [Scroll down for further.]
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." [Scroll down for further.]
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. 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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Hardwood Floor Specialists Call (562) 422-2800 or (714) 836-7050 |