ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) — At a meeting Wednesday night, Escondido City Councilmembers are expected to approve a letter to San Diego's Congressional leaders calling for immigration reform and clarity on the deportation process.
The final item on the agenda, presented by Mayor Dane White and District 3 Councilmember Christian Garcia, requests the City Council to send the letter.
You can view the letter below on pages 133-137 in the agenda packet:
Escondido letter on immigration reform by mgheisman2
It was first introduced by Garcia in July. He said there's been a lot of confusion and fear in the community after sightings of federal immigration agents, and what he calls, an overall "lack of guidelines" and "clearer standards" when it comes to deportations.
There are 150,000 residents in the City of Escondido, and a majority of then — 51.7% — are Hispanic and Latino American.
The letter points out how much the local economy depends heavily on immigrant workers in fields such as agriculture, construction, hospitality and more.
Garcia said the goal is to put the pressure on San Diego's five Congressmembers to draft comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level.
"Unfortunately, this problem is is older than I am," Garcia said. "What we're seeing is, every four years, we have — immigration is always a topic of political debate. I think both parties unfortunately use it as a club to use against their opponents, as opposed to actually addressing it."
While the council positions are technically nonpartisan, Garcia is a Republican. However, he said the well-being of his constituents comes before his party.
He said, based on his conversations, the community is fed up, guessing about 80% of residents in Escondido are not satisfied with current immigration policies.
To clarify, the agenda item is not a resolution. Instead, it's a formal request to send the letter to Congress.
Garcia is hoping for unanimous approval. ABC 10News Anchor Max Goldwasser is at the meeting and will update this story when a decision is made.
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