As President Donald Trump weighs phasing out deportation protection for immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti led mayors around the country Tuesday in a day of action in support of the program.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was enacted by the Obama administration, but Trump has been considering canceling it.
Garcetti, who is chair of the United States Conference of Mayors Latino Alliance, led a media call with other mayors from the alliance to promote DACA and was also slated to join the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles at a phone bank calling for action to defend DACA by encouraging voters to contact the White House directly.
“The American Dream belongs first to our children,” Garcetti said. “DACA has given hundreds of thousands of hard-working, ambitious young people new hope of building lives in America — and spared scores of families the heartbreak of separation. We will do everything we can to help at the local level, but the president and Congress should act now to give them the security and peace of mind that everyone deserves.”
Garcetti was joined by 60 mayors from around the country who are calling on Trump to keep DACA and for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. He also said he is working to strengthen the Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Order 40, which prevents members of the force from questioning someone just to determine their immigration status.
“Every Angeleno should feel secure in the community they call home,” Garcetti said. “Keeping all of L.A.’s neighborhoods safe means working relentlessly to build trust between police and the people they serve. The LAPD will never act as a federal immigration force, and I am committed to finding new ways we can reinforce that policy so that fewer people live in fear.”
Garcetti’s office said there are tens of thousands of DACA recipients across the Los Angeles region, and nationwide, DACA recipients are expected to add $460.3 billion to the economy over the next decade, according to the Center for American Progress.
–City News Service