I am a voter in your district who wants you to vote no on AB1081 when it comes up for a concurrence vote. It is wrong to tie the hands of police and ICE agents by limiting detainers to illegal immigrants who committed serious offenses.
Section 642 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act says that [s]tates and localities may not adopt policies, formally or informally, that prohibit employees from communicating with DHS regarding the immigration status of individuals.
If AB1081 passes, California will be violating federal law. The Director of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau recently said he would sanction Cook County, Illinois which has essentially the same policy. Do you want California to be sanctioned, too?
Giving illegal immigrants sanctuary also enables them to hold jobs in the construction, service and hospitality industries that citizens need. Have you forgotten that California’s unemployment rate is 10.8 percent? The rate is even higher for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans. Protecting illegal immigrants is hurting some of our most vulnerable citizens!
Voters like me understand that this measure is nothing but pandering. I, for one, will not accept it. Please vote no on this terrible bill.
Phone me if you would like to talk about this,
Greg Raven
P.S. And don’t forget California Penal Code Section 834b.
