Advocates call on LA County Supervisors to let ICE agreement, which sunsets September 30, to expire or risk becoming a nation-wide pariah
Los Angeles – The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), a leading immigrant rights organization in California, warned the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Monday that a vote for the continuation of an ICE agreement would be considered a vote against immigrants and families and that serious consequences would follow.
The vote by the Supervisors is expected Tuesday, September 30, 2014.
The following are statements for Apolonio Morales, CHIRLA political director:
“We are not convinced the Board of Supervisors grasps the far too negative impact this ICE agreement is having on our families. By voting to support the continuation of this catch-all, deportation machine, the Board of Supervisors is casting a vote against our families and our community and we will not stand for it.
We support the efforts by our elected leaders to safeguard our communities from any dangerous elements, but voting to continue to detain and deport thousands of immigrants who pose no danger to our loved ones is not the way to do it. Los Angeles County stands to lose a great deal of respect when it seeks to continue a program that more than 250 counties elsewhere have stopped supporting. Why such blinded faith in a tool that hurts our loved ones is beyond comprehension.
We call on the Board of Supervisors to let this agreement expire on September 30 and move beyond hurtful measures to meaningful policies that protect, serve, and integrate our community.”
