(June 24, 2015 -- As carried LIVE on LBREPORT.com's front page, the Long Beach City Council has voted 9-0 to have City Attorney draft a resolution supporting President Barack Obama's Executive Orders regarding immigration (deportation relief, work authorization) and urging "comprehensive immigration reform."

The nearly 90 minute Council item was marked by angry testimony in opposition, emotional testimony in support, after which one Council member [the primary agendizer] labeled some opponents' statements as racist, another co-agendizer ridiculed some opponents as [our description] unaware of political realities, leading up to a 9-0 Council vote in support of the measure. When put in formal resolution form by the City Attorney's office, the measure will put L.A. County's second largest city on record as supporting Executive Orders by President Obama regarding immigration (deportation relief, work authorization) that a federal court (backed by a federal appeals court 2-1) have halted as 26 states challenge the President's action, alleging it's a costly unconstitutional over-reach.

LBREPORT.com provides below quick-load on-demand audio of the full proceeding, plus excerpts of salient portions of public testimony and Council responses.

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By our unofficial tally, 16 speakers testified in support, 7 in opposition. Four of the speakers in support were aides to elected officials from offices of Congress members Janice Hahn (D, Los Angeles) and Alan Lowenthal (D., LB-West OC) and state Senator Ricardo Lara (D., LB-Huntington Park) and Assemblyman Patrick O'Donnell (D., Long Beach.)

Congressman Lowenthal's representative was the only person (of anyone speaking (public or Council members) to acknowledge that President Obama's executive orders on immigration have been stayed by a federal court judge [whose ruling was upheld [2-1] by a federal appeals court pending a determination of their constitutionality.]

Despite the highly partisan nature of the agenda item, no speakers from the Long Beach area Republican party testified on the item.

Public speakers in support cited a need to avoid deportations that would break up families, and said they and their family members were hardworking, productive residents who pay taxes. They testified in temperate, modest tones, some speaking in Spanish with a translator.

A number of speakers in opposition spoke in hostile, angry tones, emotionally blasting illegal immigration, illegal immigrants and federal government policies that failed to enforce federal laws.

Following public comment, two of the agenda item's co-agendizers responded to the testimony by opponents. The agenda item's primary agendizer, Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez, speaking in a temperate tone of voice, said "I find that some of the comments, it literally makes my skin crawl to hear the level of hatred, level of hatred in some cases...These are not aliens. What's alien to me is that we call people aliens...They pay taxes. They are here to stay; they're not going away...[A] dignified, well planned path, that includes taking the steps necessary to become a full fledged citizen is a must..."

Councilman Uranga, also a co-agendizer of the item, began by speaking in Spanish, then switched to English and spoke in an emphatic tone:

[Councilman Uranga]...Yo soy hijo de immigrantes. I am the son of immigrants, and I have just as much right to be in this country as you do.

And I'm insulted when people say 'we have to look after our Americans.' [raising his voice] I am an American. I live here. And I'm gonna to damn [catches himself] and I'm going to support this issue that we protect our rights, our rights to live in this country, our rights to work here, our rights to raise our families and educate our schools [sic]. And in case you haven't heard because you live in a cave [audience reacts], Mark Zuckerberg on June 5, '17 contributed five million dollars towards a scholarship for undocumented students to continue their college education. If you haven't heard, presidential candidate Jeb Bush has stated flatly he supports immigration reform and he will do something about it when he gets elected. Presidential candidate Barney [sic] Sanders said the same thing. Presidential candidate Hillary Smith [colleague alerts him to misspeak] Hillary Clinton will do the same in terms of immigration reform. It's coming folks, it's comin'

So you might as well be prepared for it, because all of these citizens that [word unclear] right here are going to become citizens, and you know what they're gonna do? They're gonna vote!

• To hear salient audio segments of public testimony, click here. (whoosh sound indicates audio edit)

• To hear salient audio segments of Council responses following public testimony, click here Speakers in order are Council members Gonzalez, Uranga, Andrews, Richardson, Vice Mayor Lowenthal, Council members Price, Austin, Mayor Garcia. Council members Mungo and Supernaw didn't speak before voting "yes." Whoosh sound indicates audio edit.)

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Councilwoman Gonzalez, joined by Vice Mayor Lowenthal and Council members Uranga and Richardson, added the agenda item on Friday (June 19) to the Tuesday June 23 City Council agenda using the Council's minimum notice procedure. It goes beyond the 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. p>Below is the resolution text sent to the City Attorney's office to be put in legal resolution form:

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 society.

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.

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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.

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 the court caption at right for full appellate panel opinion.)