WHEREAS, May 20, 2019, will mark the 23rd annual Immigrant Day of Action in Sacramento; and

WHEREAS, Each May for the past 22 years, hundreds of immigrant community leaders, clergy, and supporters from across the state have traveled to the State Capitol to advocate for policies that honor immigrants’ vital role in California’s civic, economic, cultural, and community life; and

WHEREAS, California is home to over 10 million immigrants, the nation’s largest population; and

WHEREAS, California’s immigrant communities represent a diversity of countries, ethnicities, and languages; and

WHEREAS, Immigrants are deeply rooted in our state’s communities and families, with 49% of all children in California having at least one immigrant parent and 74% of noncitizens living in a home with citizens; and

WHEREAS, Immigrant Day began in the aftermath of discriminatory measures such as 1994’s Proposition 187, which sought to exclude immigrants from the social safety net, including denying immigrants’ access to health care and denying immigrant children’s access to public education, and 1996 federal laws and regulations that effectively excluded many immigrants from vital public programs providing care and support; and

WHEREAS, During the ensuing twenty years of community organizing and advocacy, Californians’ views on immigration policies have drastically transformed, with approximately 75% of adults expressing support in recent polling for the inclusion, not deportation, of undocumented immigrant community members; and

WHEREAS, In recent years, the Legislature has approved, and the Governor has signed, a series of groundbreaking measures including Assembly Bill 60 (2013), commonly referred to as The Safe and Responsible Driver Act, Senate Bills 4 and 75 (2015), commonly referred to as the Health4All Kids Act, Assembly Bill 4 (2013), commonly referred to as The TRUST Act, Assembly Bills 130 and 131 (2011), commonly referred to as the California Dream Act of 2011, Assembly Bill 241 (2013), commonly referred to as the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, Senate Bill 54 (2017), commonly referred to as the California Values Act, and other measures to protect the rights of immigrant workers, which together have created a national blueprint for proimmigrant policies; and

WHEREAS, California’s progress stands in contrast to the federal government’s ongoing failure to create a commonsense, humane immigration process, which has left many immigrant community members in California vulnerable to detention, deportation, criminalization, and abuse; and

WHEREAS, California’s immigrant communities continue to face many key challenges, including exclusion from health care, unsound Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation programs which are operating without transparency, an unjust deportation system with profound barriers to due process, and a lack of access to community-based resources that can open the doors to citizenship or deportation relief for those eligible; and

WHEREAS, California’s location on the United States-Mexico border provides the state unique insights into the needs of border communities and the importance of upholding civil rights in the border region and guarding against abuses; and

WHEREAS, Divisive, hateful, scapegoating rhetoric directed toward immigrants, particularly targeting Latino and Muslim communities, and accompanied by inflammatory rhetoric concerning the border, has received significant attention nationwide, increasing the need for continued proactive policymaking that affirms immigrants’ human rights; now, therefore, be it