L.A. Sanctuary Plan Assailed on Eve of Vote

The already emotionally charged debate over whether to declare Los Angeles a “city of sanctuary” for Central American refugees grew hotter Tuesday as key federal and county officials publicly condemned the proposal, which is scheduled for a vote today by the Los Angeles City Council.

At a press conference Tuesday morning, a senior U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service official denounced the move as “ridiculous” and “disastrous.” On Tuesday afternoon, the county Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 to oppose making “any part of the county a sanctuary for illegal aliens.”

Church officials from the Southern California Ecumenical Council, which is at the heart of the sanctuary movement in Los Angeles, came in for the sharpest criticism yet from immigration officials.

Harold Ezell, Western regional commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, said he had “proof positive” that “there is a connection between minority rights people--the activists (an apparent reference to sanctuary workers in the United States)--and the recruiting of people down in El Salvador.”

The proof he offered was a document containing names of Los Angeles church officials that Ezell said was being given out in El Salvador by alien smugglers. The paper instructs the aliens to report to the church officials upon arrival in Los Angeles for work permits, housing and jobs.

Gene Boutillier, executive director of the Southern California Ecumenical Council, whose name appeared on the paper, charged that Ezell’s statements were “reckless and defamatory.” The cause of the current debate is a largely symbolic resolution that would declare Los Angeles a “city of sanctuary” for Guatemalan and Salvadoran refugees fleeing persecution in their countries.

Adopted by Committee

The resolution was unanimously adopted Friday by the Intergovernmental Relations Committee, which is chaired by Councilman Michael Woo. Woo, who authored the measure, said he hoped it would encourage the thousands of illegal Salvadoran and Guatemalan immigrants in Los Angeles to report crimes to police without fear of being deported.

Woo denied Tuesday that the sanctuary declaration would be costly to the city. Rather, he said, the city stood to benefit from refugees coming forward to report crime and health hazards. He said any extra costs would be “minimal.”

But he admitted that support for the measure has wavered.

“I think there are enough fence-sitters that I’m not absolutely positive what will happen, but I think potentially the votes are there,” Woo said.

Some council members said they had received a torrent of phone calls and letters on the issue.

Tuesday’s posturing on the debate began at 9 a.m. when Ezell called a press conference to “bring (the sanctuary vote) to the attention of the citizenry of Los Angeles.”

“This is a ridiculous and disastrous kind of thing for a City Council to do that has no business being involved in national policy in the first place,” Ezell declared.

“Los Angeles is the illegal (alien) capital of America in the first place,” he said. “This would send a message out that ‘L.A.’s the Place’ to be free from the INS. . . . How can city officials promote the violation of federal law?”

He predicted that the move would increase crime, deplete resources and make it difficult for federal immigration officers to do their jobs. Also attending the press conference were Ernest Gustafson, Los Angeles district INS director, Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich and a surprise participant that Ezell introduced as “an ordinary citizen.”

The citizen, who identified himself as a California engineer named Dick Dydell, said he had recently returned from visiting friends in El Salvador. The friends, he said, had given him a slip of paper from a computer printout that they had been given by an alien smuggler. He declined to give more details about his own background.

Copies Distributed

Copies of the paper were distributed to reporters by INS officials.

The paper, written in awkward, ungrammatical Spanish and marred by spelling errors, read:

“Instructions. When you get to your destiny in Los Angeles, put yourself in contact with the following agencies and persons: (For work and housing), SCIT, Mr. Gene Boutellier, 1010 S. Flower St. . . . For legal aid, Social Security card (work permit), and immigration and work identification: El Rescate, Ms. Della Baham, 1813 W. Pico Blvd. . . .

“Please be sure not to say to anyone that you have come to work. On the contrary, affirm always that you are a political refugee, backed up by a good story.”

Boutillier is executive director of the Southern California Ecumenical Council. Della Bahan is executive director of El Rescate, a legal and social service agency that was established by the council. Both their names were spelled wrong in the instruction sheet.

The two denied knowing anything about the paper and questioned its authenticity.

“We had nothing to do with it,” Bahan said. “I think the timing is amazing. I resent the implication, whether or not this was an authentic document, that we had anything to do with it. I think it was very irresponsible.”

Other Avenues Suggested

“If the INS really thinks that the Southern California Ecumenical Council is in the business of giving people false IDs, I think they have other avenues open to them besides press conferences,” Boutillier said. “Of course we don’t do these things. Why would we recruit aliens to come here? Life is no bed of roses here for anyone from Central America.”

Ezell said that Dydell had called him before his trip to El Salvador a few weeks ago and offered to bring back materials indicating that sanctuary supporters may be involved in “recruiting” illegal aliens in El Salvador. Ezell said he had not known Dydell previously, but that he was willing to accept his document “at face value.”

Gustafson, whose territory includes all of Los Angeles, charged at the conference that in even considering the resolution, “elected officials are listening to a small group of advocates while the millions of voters have not voted for such an action.”

He said that a special anti-narcotics operation by the Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department had found in the last few months that of the more than 2,000 people arrested on narcotics charges, 49% were illegal aliens. “And the great majority of those were from Central America,” he added.

Gates Not Involved

Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, who had been asked by Ezell to participate in the conference, declined. However, LAPD spokesman Cmdr. William Booth confirmed the department’s concern about both the statistics and the narcotics involvement of illegal aliens.

Gates’ decision not to join the press conference, Booth said, “was that it is an issue that pertains to a federal matter and does not have any impact on the practices and policies of the Police Department and therefore no reasons for him to get involved.”

The debate moved to the Board of Supervisors in the afternoon. The supervisors passed a resolution put forward by Antonovich by a 4-1 vote. The resolution says the county opposes any “efforts to make any part of the county a sanctuary for illegal aliens,” and that it “support(s) Sen. (Alan) Simpson’s immigration reform legislation now before the House of Representatives.” Simpson’s legislation would make it illegal for employers to hire illegal aliens.

The strongest comments against the Los Angeles City Council proposal came from Supervisor Pete Schabarum.

“The idea that the members of the City of Los Angeles City Council, who in effect are advocating the breaking of the laws of our land, ought to be censured or kicked out of office,” he said.

Estimated Numbers

In answer to questions by the board, Chief Administrative Officer James Hankla said the number of illegal aliens in Los Angeles County is about 650,000. Ezell said the INS puts the number at more than 1 million.

The sanctuary proposal before the City Council, however, would apply only to Salvadorans and Guatemalans. Of the estimated 300,000 people from these countries in Los Angeles, the number of illegal immigrants is generally reported by officials in the thousands. There is no closer estimate that is reliable. Supervisor Ed Edelman voted against the resolution after his colleagues would not go along with a postponement to hear from Woo or other advocates of the sanctuary proposal.

Times staff writer Ted Vollmer contributed to this article.