City Council Supports Cedillo’s Immigration Reform Resolutions

The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to adopt California’s “Trust Act” and Senate Joint Resolution 8, as proposed by Councilmember Gil Cedillo, according to a news statement from Cedillo’s office.

While the Trust Act prohibits law enforcement agencies from honoring “immigration hold” requests by federal immigration authorities on people eligible for release from criminal custody so that they can be deported, SJR 8 urges Congress and the U.S. president to reach an agreement on comprehensive immigration reform.

Cedillo introduced the Trust Act resolution before the City on Aug. 20, and the city council’s chief legislative analyst subsequently recommended that the council support the measure.

“The U.S. immigration system continues to be broken,” Cedillo was quoted as saying in the statement. “We cannot sit around and wait until immigration reform happens at the national level, for there is no guarantee that a reform will actually happen.”

Senate Joint Resolution 8, authored by Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), was adopted unanimously by the state Senate this past April—an important first step with no known opposition in the otherwise contentious subject of immigration reform.

The resolution holds the promise that any comprehensive immigration reform should include a sensible and timely path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who live and working in the U.S.

“As we continue to wait, the state and the city have no choice but to pass legislation that seeks to mitigate the problem in the absence of federal immigration policy,” Cedillo said, adding: “We will continue to create legislation that helps families stay together, helps people feel safe in their communities, and helps our constituents build trust with their local government until there is comprehensive immigration reform.”

Before Wednesday’s vote, Cedillo joined a dozen immigrant rights group ranging from the UCLA Labor Center to the CLEAN Carwash Campaign in a news conference in City Hall aimed at pushing the City of Los Angeles to support the AB 4 Trust Act, authored by 17th District Assemblymember Tom Ammiano.