SAN DIEGO, CA — The San Diego City Council voted to join an amicus brief filed by Santa Clara County against the Trump administration’s lawsuit targeting California laws that strengthen public safety while protecting families from the president’s deportation force.
Members of the San Diego City Council voted today 5-2 to join the amicus brief that supports California laws including the California Values Act (SB 54), AB 450, and AB 103 that create additional protections to shield California’s immigrants from detention and deportation. The decision comes at a time when communities are being separated by harmful federal policies and divisive politics at the local and national level.
SB 54, the California Values Act, which took effect January 1, 2018, limits the way that local police work with federal immigration agencies and creates safe spaces to limit immigration enforcement from occurring at public spaces in the community.
The San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium has been urging San Diego elected officials to stand with our immigrant communities. Last year, Chula Vista and National City passed separate resolutions to support SB 54 to help keep families together and safe, and now the City Council has decided to support SB 54 by joining the county of Santa Clara’s amicus brief.
Lilian Serrano from Alianza Comunitaria and Chair of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium, issued the following statement:
“San Diego’s decision to stand for California values and join the fight against Trump’s harmful lawsuit sends a powerful message that San Diego is committed to valuing and protecting all of its residents, no matter where they come from, and treating them with dignity and compassion.
Trump’s lawsuit against California is cruel and misguided, and should not go unchallenged. That’s why we applaud the San Diego City Council’s decision to join other local municipalities who have officially supported SB 54 in the past, including Chula Vista and National City.
Our communities are overwhelmingly saying no to Trump’s lawsuit, and other local governments need to reflect the sentiment of the people instead of using it for political gain while playing into the president’s hateful agenda.”
About the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium
The San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium is a project of Alliance San Diego. Since 2007, community, faith, labor, and legal organizations have come together as the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium (SDIRC). Through SDIRC, these organizations are pursuing four common goals: support comprehensive immigration reform; stop the spread of local policies and practices that target and violate the civil and human rights of immigrants; educate immigrants, and educate the public about the important contributions of immigrants. More at: www.immigrantsandiego.org.
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