Jorge Zurita-Coronado, Legislative Correspondent for Sen. Alex Padilla, will speak to the committee on Thursday, July 15 at 9:00 a.m. You can access the zoom link through the LWVSD’s website (landing page or the calendar). Topics I have asked him to inform us about include:
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Why Title 42 has not been revoked including why the border is not open to non-essential travel
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The Senator’s recommendations for improving immigration
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What bills are being discussed in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, which Sen. Padilla chairs
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Whether the courts and immigration processors could get more funding to speed up the asylum-seeking process
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Whether there is a way for deported veterans to have their charges reviewed so they could return to the U.S.
There will also be a short meeting on the second Thursday, July 8 at 9:00 a.m. but there will be no speaker.
At the June meeting, Hollie Webb, Lead Attorney for the Border Rights Project at Al Otro Lado reviewed the work that this very important organization does including educating and helping asylum seekers cross into the U.S. You can listen to this meeting on past videos on the LWVSD website. We had two agents from Border Patrol at our May meeting; they work between the Ports of Entry and explained how people are getting into the U.S. Later, Dulce Garcia, CEO of Border Angels, who had been living in Tijuana to help the shelters and asylum seekers for the past two months, said people are not getting into the U.S. in significant numbers. This meeting was not recorded at the request of Border Patrol.
Thanks to Jane Andrews, we presented a caucus on immigration and deportation with a great slideshow at the LWVC Convention. You can view the recording of that meeting under the Immigration & Deportation Committee on the LWVSD website. We had a robust attendance and are now in the process of forming a state-wide committee of League members who will work with each other and hopefully reach out to Leagues throughout the U.S. by next year’s convention. Jane, Beryl and Dana will tri-chair it.
We have been following legislation supported by LWVC and urge you to send a message of support for the following bills:
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AB 937 is now in the State Senate and tightens the rules so that law enforcement cannot refer undocumented people who are being released from prison or jail to ICE.
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AB 1368 is now in the State Senate and establishes the Enhanced Services Program for Asylees which will offer case management for the first 90 days.
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SB 56 is now in the State Legislature and establishes Medi-Cal for all people 60 and older including those who are undocumented. Funding is in the Governor’s budget.
You can view the LWVC letters of support on the LWVSD website by following our Action link.