Anaheim considers calling for end to deportations
The city of Anaheim on Tuesday is considering calling for an end to deportations and the legal protection of undocumented immigrants without serious criminal histories.
The resolution proposed by Councilman Jordan Brandman is similar to one adopted in December by the Los Angeles City Council and echoes a letter sent that same month to President Obama by 29 House Democrats.
The letters calls on Obama to expand the deferred action program to include all undocumented immigrants without serious criminal histories. The program, which was announced by Obama in June 2012, has allowed hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants to stay in the country legally.
Anaheim has a significant population of undocumented adults who are “working hard, sending their kids to school, trying to live the American dream as best they can,” said Brandman.
"They shouldn’t have to live in the shadows and under the threat of deportation.”
Brandman said he decided to push the resolution after he was approached by local labor groups, including Teamsters Local 952, the SEIU and Justice for Janitors.
If adopted, it will be sent to the President and members of the House and Senate. In response to a protester calling on him to end deportations, Obama said in November he does not have the power to do so.
Last year, the Anaheim City Council unanimously approved a resolution supporting comprehensive immigration reform that would provide a path to “residency and/or citizenship for the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States today.”
The council is expected to vote on the resolution at its regular meeting Tuesday.
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