Transcripts For CSPAN3 State Officials Discuss Immigration And Refugee Policy 20170922

[inaudible] im the executive Vice President for external affairs that center for American Progress. Before we begin our program, please join us in letting everyone know that our thoughts and prayers are with those suffering from the devastating impacts of natural disasters here in the yunUnited States, i our territories abroad and around the world. We hope for the safety and relief of individuals, families, and communities effected. Welcome to todays timely discussion regarding state and local actions to promote Public Safety and increase inclusion for immigrant and refugee communities across the country. Generations of immigrants have built and strengthened American Communities since the beginning of our nations history. But at certain moments in time and we are in one of those moments today, we have experienced a pervasive and dangerous form of nationalism that has made strangers out of friends, neighbors, and beloved community members. The reality is many immigrants who have come to this country seeking a more prosperous and peaceful life have instead become subject to the politics of fear and policies that fall short of true american patriotism. One which welcomes the stranger and pursues the common good. Today well discuss how state and local communities can rise above fear and hatred and come together to promote policies that support and welcome immigrants and refugees and that doing so can become a core element of how they build and fost r resilient communities. As a part of welcoming week, a National Effort to celebrate welcoming policies across america, we are excited to partner with welcoming amare can to bring you a Diverse Group of local voices standing up against divisive rhetoric and bringing others in to preserve the richness and vitality of americans neighborhoods. At the center for American Progress, we have highlighted the dangerous influence of trumps immigration policy and will continue providing facts and research addressing the costs to the economy, to families, and to communities resulting from mass deportation policies, increased militarization of border communities and expanded interior enforcement efforts. And based on the research we conduct here, this is what we know. Contrary to this administrati administrations claims, Research Shows undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the u. S. Born population. During trumps first 100 days in office, immigration arrests rose by more than 37 , despite his Campaign Promise to deport only those with criminal records, his administration has made all unauthorized immigrants a priority for deportation. With arrest rates more than doubling for immigrants without criminal records. And nearly 6 million u. S. Citizen children live with at least one unauthorized family member. Since it election, weve seen reports from across the country of spikes in fear and disstress among Young Children because of fears of potentially losing a loved one to detention or deportation. With all of this increased enforcement, the administrations decision two weeks ago to rescind daca program and leave nearly 800,000 young people in limbo will have catastrophic and Socio Economic consequences. Cap research has found kicking d. A. C. A. Resip znts out of the work force would are result in the loss of 650 billion in the next 10 years. In california aloan home to the largest share of d. A. C. A. Beneficiaries, remove them would cost more than laevl . 6 billion in annual gdp losses. For states like texas where we saw dreamers risking their lives during Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, we can expect 3. 6 billions in losses as 806,000 workers could be removed from their labor force. Meanwhile, recent polls show us americans widely support giving dreamers a chance to stay permanently in america, including 73 of trump voters. Allowing these young immigrants to stay in the United States is both moral and an economic imperative. Just this week we released a new analysis which finds passing the dream act and placing all the immediately eligible workers on a path to legal status would add at least a cumulative 81 billion to the usgdp over the next decade. A figure that could rise as high as 1 trillion if everyone is put on a path to citizenship. Today we will hear directly from Civic Leaders from places as diverse as texas, iowa, california and here in the district of columbia as they share experiences and lessons with us. But first its my plesher to introduce California Senate president pro tem dale yoen. His tenacious leadership has pave thtd way for smart progressive policies that serve as National Models. Just a few days go the california values act, deemed the most comprehensive bill to protect undock ynumented immigr is now pending governor jerry browns expected signature. This model policy would insure that undocumented friends, neighbors and co workers in california are able to live their lives and interact with Law Enforcement without fear of deportation. But this isnt the first Ground Breaking policy the senator has worked on. In 2016, he successfully negotiated with Governor Brown and the states unions to secure a minimum wage law in california and he was instrumental in californias secure Retirement Savings program which assists california retirees and a National Model for retirement security. Hes also a National Leader on climate and Energy Policy and the first latino to ever hold the position of the california state senate. Please join me in welcoming back to cap, California Senate president pro tem, kelvin dalion. Thank you so much. I want to echo on behalf of the state of california, our deepest cub doleances to the people of mexico. Ive already been in touch with the governor who happens to be in connecticut right now as we speak to see what is it that we can do as a state to provide our next door neighbors with assi assistance in this very difficult tragedy in mexico. We will be in touch as well tomorrow with the mexican ambassador tomorrow here in d. C. So i thank you very much for bringing this up. Good afternoon and i want to thank you all for inviting me to join you here today. I want to thank winny for the kind nrintroduction of my perso and im proud to be here at the senate for American Progress which has become a bastion of progressive thought and policy. I cant tell you how valuable it is as a law maker to have credib credible, rigorous Third Party Analysis on issues like immigration, health care as well as climate change. As you know the California State Legislature just concluded its work for the year. Im biassed, of course but i believe firmly this was truly a historic, productive session. From our record investments in public education, affordable housing, parks, transportation and water. To our successful extens of california pfsz landmark cap and trade program and the single largest investment in clean airint state history. We also took important steps to preserve the character of our state. The qualities that make california a very special place. From the outset we made it clear we would protect our people and our progress and for obvious reasons immigration was front and center. For those familiar with the comp lkted history from the chinese exclusion act to pete wilsons proposition 187 in the early 90s, which cut off access to public education, health care and other Vital Services for undocumented immigrants. We had not always been as tolerant and welcoming to immigrants as we are now but whats past is pro longed. Thats informed us each step of the way since. We learned our lesson the hard way. We know that tearing apart honest, hard working families is not the answer. Separating mothers from their children is no solution. It doesnt make us safer. It doesnt bring back jobs. It doesnt solve our economic challenges. In fact, i would argue it does quite the opposite. It undermines our prosperity, it makes us less safe because it hurts the trust the Law Enforcement has worked so hard to build throughout the country. That difficult chapter in our history continues to reviberate today. The California Republican party still has not recovered from the back lash, even after more than 20 years from proposition 187. In fact, it was actually in response to proposition 187 and the antiimmigranted amous, wave in the 90s that i first became politically active. That was a turning point for me personally just as it was for the state of california and i believe california is a bell weather for the nation on this issue. Of course this president brought back those painful memories and exploited deep seated tensions to win his office and since taking office weve seen some of this more detestable Campaign Rhetoric put into action. From the muslim ban to defund sanctuary cities to the most recent decision to end daca, we knew we had to be decisive. So i took the extraordinary step of hiring outside counsel. That outside counsel is the former attorney general of the United States, the head of department of justice, eric holder to inform the legislature on this issue as well as many other issues. And we set to burke building a wall of resistance to the hateful and short sighted agenda currently prevailing in washington. We of course have filed we of course have filed a number of lawsuits in consultation with mr. Holder as well as our state attorney general. We expanded access to Legal Counsel for those imgrntds residing in the state of california to insure due process for all and we pass my bill, 54, the california values act known as the sanctuary state bill to insure californias state and local Law Enforcement agencies focus solely on their duty to protect and serve our communities. All our communities regardless of who you are and where you come from. Your the hew of your skin, your native language, regardless of who you love. It prohibits security departments from using state tax dollars to enforce federal immigration laws and creates safe zones at our schools, at our hospitals, our churches, court houses and other sensitive locations. So our immigrant communities can live their lives and conduct important business free of fear. It is being called the sanctuary state law but i want to be clear on the record because i think that is a false characterization. Its a miss noemer. There is no such thing as a sanctuary city or state. There is no such thing as a false individuvisible wall and w youll be free from i. C. E. And deportation. Its not lost on me that they have exclusive jurisdiction, more than the legal right to enforce federal immigration laws currently on the book. But that doesnt mean local or State Governments have to be an extension or a cog in the Trump Deportation machine. Doesnt mean our local residents throughout the nation have to be double taxed in that our local tax dollars that should be utilized for local police to protect and serve all communities are being used as an extension of the federal authorities. We should not have our Police Officers abandoned their duties to help set opperimeter around say an Elementary School waiting for mothers to pick up their children after school. Thats not who we are as a great state. Thats not who we are as a great country. What this measure really does is prevent the type of situation you had in arizona. With the disgraced sheriff joe arpaio. It prevents Law Enforcement from arresting any person for civil immigration violations. It lim lts cooperation to i. C. E. To only those cases involving violent felony crime, insures our Public Safety officers and resources arent common deared by the federal government for the purpose of mass deportation. This was a very hard fought compromise with our Governor Brown in the Law Enforcement community. Its not as expansive as it originally was but i think it strikes a critical balance between protecting our values as a state. We also secured 30 million for Legal Assistance for d. A. C. A. Students in california. Now, im under no illusions these steps alone are enough to solve our immigration challenges. Clearly there should be sensible limits on immigration and it is the responsibility of the federal government to set those limits. We can all agree we need comprehensive Immigration Reform, clear, predictable and fair guidelines which secures our borders and provides a pathway to legal residency and citizenship for undocumented communities throughout the great country. But we have a problem. The situation is we have a congress that abdicated the responsibility to do their job and get a comprehensive Immigration Reform package to the president. Let me be very clear. If the new president wants to wage a campaign of fear against innocent families, he can count us out. We will not lift a single finger or spend a single cent. Were not going to allow one election to reverse generations of progress at the height of our historic diversity, our economic output and our sense of global responsibility. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect all californiaens until congress does. The state of california today is the sixth largest economy in the entire world. We are the epicenter of inovation and inclusivity. And we didnt get there by embracing alternative facts or pseudo scientific nonsense. We make policy based on facts as well as science. We dont govern by gimmick because you cannot run a Global Economy by stoking hatred as well as division. Had had great state of california is an amazing tappestry with so many different hughes whether your ancestry relates from scotland, mexico or russia or china, vietnam or south korea. Or elsewhere. Its a state of inclusivety and diversity and that is a key to our success, being the sixth largest economy in the world. The United States, china, japan and a good day, depending on the chaugzs of the pound and your state, california. And we have a number seven, we have france, brazil, we have a nation thats been in the news quite a bit and will be so for the foreseeable future. Russia and italy. So californias economy is larger than Vladimir Putins russia to put this in context. And this is what it means for california. To embrace people from all over the world who want to come to our country, our state who want to work hard, give their children a better future, who respect our laws, pay their taxes and pledge their allegiance to the red, white and blue and thats why when you have a president who says we have 11 Million Immigrants to be criminals, we know that is not a fact. Its a narrative. Steve bannon, mr. Jeff sessions have perpetuated for a very, very long time. But this threatens our Economic Prosperity as a state. Our values, progressive values as well as our people. Now this country is greater than any one or party. I want to finish by saying the following. To all the dreamers that have been betrayed by this president , let me end by saying those that have been demeaned or down sized, told theyre indispensable, whether that came from here or a president , america is bigger than one or one party and america will always be an exceptional example where you can be whoever you are and dream of being whoever you want to be. With that, i want to thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you all very much for joining us for this conversation. Im the Vice President of immigration policy at the center for American Progress. You can sit wherever you want probably. And joining me on the stage are three terrific panelists who i think well have really good conversation and immediately to my left is monica fuentas, after senator, we have perera, the first director for the city of dallas, texas and on the end of the panel, we have mark prauszer, the Longtime Police chief and Public Safety director for storm lake, iowa and for our viewing audience or on social media, you can join the conversation on twit wr the welcoming week. Well get to that in a little bit. But as you mentioned, this is taking place in the middle of weltcoming week which is an event to highlights around the country. A slight variation on a single theme but hopefully an opportunity to kick off the larger discussion. Senator, this was as you mentioned a very, very impactful legislative session and the california values act which just got passed last week was the process of a lot of negotiation and thinking through the moment were in right now and what states like california are standing up to do in this current environment. I want you to talk about what lessons you learned that you could draw upon for future reference in your state or could be useple for individuals in other states, nodding that theyre different than anywhere in the country. General lessons you learn and if there were things in your own process you can learn from in the future. You have to build a sizeable coalition and not just immigrant rights advocates or those in the legal space but clergy, faith of all denominations. Obviously the Islamic Community as well as the jewish community, the Christian Faith coaless labor unions, ocly folks in the Health Sector as well as the educational sector. You need folks who are chancellors. You really do have to amplify a coalition. It has to be multifaceted. And not just exclusive to immigrant Rights Advocacy groups. You have to engage with Law Enforcement. What will hopefully be a very constructive engagement. I had the pleasure of engaging with the Police Chiefs in the major cities and small cities in california. They tend to be more methodical, Thoughtful Solutions oriented individuals. Obviously theres other facet said or limits within the Law Enforcement community that are highly pliticized, highly charged with the rhetoric out sthf department of justice. And i say so because sheriffs are elected. Theyre not selected by mayors or accountable to a city counsel or manager but you have to engage in very earnest negotiations and your own colleagues, your own peers within your own party, legislative branch. And bring them along too. Its unfortunate because the dialogue is so zen phobfoe xeno. The way theyve used immigrants and have really hade the narrative such that these are all what immigrants do here and whether its california, texas, iowa or here in washington. I would say amplify your coalition. Youre going to have to engage and be respectful to Law Enforcement. One thing i learned very quickly is the multitask coalition between the feds, states and local governments as well as terrorist cells. How they can collaborate and cooperate. As long as its not primarily for depooritation purposes right there. And i listened to Police Chiefs and others and say youre right. We have to fix that and change that because we dont want to prohibit cooperation between the various law forcement agencies in your own backyard. I grew as a result. Thats very helpful i think. You obviously heard the senators remarks about california. Texas exists in a very different environment. While the California Legislature leaned in hard to push for more protective policies at the state level, youve seen texas, Attorney Generals Office leading the charge with sb 4 that would radically changing the way state, local Law Enforcement interact with communities. And its now largely being enjoyed though not entirely. And that involves the national converse asian. How are you approaching your job of setting up this office from its affairs and what lessons might you be able to draw upon frumther cities trying to clean up. Thanks for the question. Thank you for the timely conversation. And acknowledge welcoming america, because they are a stand out national orlginization that provides technical and otherwise supports for cities, municipalities, that are interested. So its more than just word. Its also deed and how you develop that programming around those deeds. So its been a great source of Technical Support for our city. Just received a grand fl ourt world squr so were looking forward to moving into that space and im from dallas, born and raised in and was part of the Advocacy Group for a number of years and led by the National Counsel of jewish women they went to our mayor and said we need an. Office at imgraegz affairs. Well, it didnt happen at the time but the idea started germinating. And recently the mayor had a task force on baurvty addressing issues and of course some of that was how do we get aroound services that will left us oud of pover eshoo. We have a laum large work population in the silty of a dallas. So how did that recommendation i think this office came to moving beyond the idea and to a goal and a new city manager who came from a community where there was a welcoming office like this and our mayor and city counsel saying lets be protktive. We want to grow our economy and recognize that one in foural were born in another country. Specifically going back to the issue in texas. Thats a very local how hyperlocal those conversations wea weal really are. How do you think about approaching your gurj giveren the largest environment sglm youinate operate in a state of fair. Inspite of rhetoric that it might. Working with our city infrastructure, our libraries, our court system, etc. Looking at it from the eyes of how do we be more inclusive . Who are such an important part of our local economy. So its about recognizing those contributions, seeing it from different lens. We dee have Law Enforcementn on the panel and i know i appreciate you being here. I was reading an article that ron put together last week on cnn and said those with the smallest share fentd to be theigatest support for the foed line issues. Er storm lake, awu. What your experience and what the communitys sents has been. A long process of immigrants coming into the city and having to come into their local economy and community and how that pras has been esaengsally. One mighttime k why people in northwest iowa would be sitting on this panel andance rsh that question . And as to why perhaps some states dont deal a lot may have a more hard line view of the conversations and the debates. I think it goes to the pointed of its out of sight, its not on their radar. They have not experienced it. Storm likes experience is a Public School system 82 concaucasian. Were not attached in the urban area. We sit in the corner of southwest iowa. Ourtle adpsd have shifting democrat graphics. Time its about who we are in the community we see communities with empty homes, closing apartment complexes, condollidating. We have a need for more housing because our manufacturers want to expand and we dont have the home sdwhz apartments to put people because the Community Wants to copt to grow. In my opinion, thats a betteder problem to have than losing population but all of that growth weve experienced over a period of three plus decades. It has been a complete change and fret in the it democrat frks and our unlt to communicate with eevlger and provide sturv services who we may not have the proper interpreters or translators for. Have we seen an increase in crime in our community in this time . Yes. Why . Not because of a change in demographics. We have a larger pup faeld and and we have never, in my tenure of approaching 30 years as the chief, weve never had had a year where there was any disproportionate representation by any particular ethic group of crime. It doesnt matteral what group you are, they reer choir you to have a flight pee and so this whole conversation is very important to us because our many ethic groups have fwraut us growth, vibeerance. He was teaching some of the very statements ive used in other presentations about what storm lake has become it certainly has its challenges but the entire consarsation whether its a change in the d. A. C. A. Program or whatever that fechoe froe meekt be. Skb theyre concerned about it. And that impacts how they feel at work, that impacts their health, the children in the schools. And so our school administrators, our teach leaders are very concerned about it. Because its been a great plus for our city. One final question on that because its amazing to hear. We talked about this before. Knowing where you are now is very, very helpful but understanding how you got there can be enlightening for people as well. Can you talk me through what that process has been like and you mention in a previous conversation its not always easy but what that process is like. What are helpful programs or projects that have helped to ease that transition . I dont think we have enough time to answer that. Ill give you a couple of examples that ive shared with other groups. In northwest iowa one of the big social events were pot luck dinners. Wed say how are we going to adapt to the changing community and better serve the people . One note is it was all white. That was a learning experience. We started having thought wed have a monthly pot luck dinner and bring new friends in our community and in many cases the folks from the different ethnic groups did not attend and so through conversations we learned that culturally, dependling on what part of the world you come from, that its not normal to throw a party and ask the guest to bring the meat. So it was these baby steps you might imagine in a Small Community that we learned from. From a Law Enforcement standpoint we had had an evening where we had criminal activity and we required an ethyoepian interpreter and weve had had an ethiopian interpreter but he was a witness to the incident so we couldnt use him for the purposes of dealing with the investigation and so our night supervisor couldnt find an. Interpreter at 3 00 in the morning in storm lake, iowa, so he called a sumallian interpreter with the assumption theyre all kind of from the same part of the country. Completely done for the right reason but it was a learning curve and all the sudden the light went on and that wasnt a very good decision. So weve had these types of incidents and i could share a lot of learning beutwe werent afraid to learn and werent afraid to learn by our mistakes and do better the next time. The next and most important thing we learned is our many different citizens dont do business like born and raised caucasians do in the United States. They dont come to city counsel meetings. They dont come to voice their opinion to the mayors office. We tried to take the show on the road to them and they were failures because we didnt recognize what was going on in their lives. Make it a long story short, we have really enhanced our Community Outreach to the point where we now and go set up portable offices block by block in the summertime not because of an accident or a crisis. We just roll in with police and other social Service Agencies and the Fire Department and weal rr just start knocking on doors and we have the traditional pens and candy to hangout. And just to create a relationship. In the first few years folks looked at us like were nuts but now theyre sharing their concerns in the community and things like that. Anding to that and using focus groups, theres more of a Comfort Level there. In working with our different ethnic groups. So one lesson after another and we continued to modify those examples. And really dealing with an international clien tell and international neighbor. I love that spes fisty. Its helpful to hear. Monica, you deal with specifically this kind of Technical Assistance in a conceptual and concrete level. I was wondering if you could talk about welcoming america and connecting them to build welcoming communities. So i was wondering if we could talk a bit of what teeks pect to see this week and how you all are approaching your work in this current environment. And its so great to be with such a wonderful panel. The police chief basically stole all my talking points. So welcoming america, weve been around since 2009. We were founded after our executive director did organizing work in texas. So in 2006 texas not texas, tennessee. Tennessee was debating passing an english only bill. At the same time nashville, nation magazine was calling it the hot zone for antiimmigrant sentiment, mosques were being burned to the ground, kids being bullied in school and what our executive director realized was no one was really having conversations with people about the fact demographics were changing quickly and it might not be comfortable, that things look differently than youre used to. So through that came up with a threeprong approach in dealing with these issues. On the first and to the point of the police chief is you have to find ways for people to connect with one another. We have to find you cant expect people to change on their own. When your neighborhood looks different than youve ever seen it before t takes people to provide that opportunity for folks to get to know one another and realize maybe we are more alike than different and we have things in common. It took a communications kamnt pain. Thinking about the values of the community and how do you tie the values of who you are to how you treat your new neighbors . Whether it was mayors or Business Leaders or faith leaders really helped build a o coalition to change the tone in the community. So this bill failed but not only that a few years later the National Chamber of commerce noted they were vibrant, booming for business in a way it had never been before. And they were a welcoming community making it a place people wanted to bring their talents to nashville. So you fast forward a couple of years. Welcoming america taking things from laces like tennessee. Working with leccal leaders and thinking about how you talk about these issues of diversity, you can really start making some of those changes and making communities a place where immigrants and refugees can fly. Our theory of change is you have to engage the people who already live there. And whether those are the longterm neighbors, the government leaders, Business Leaders, educators, if we really want socially cohesive and economically vibrant places, it doesnt happen overnight and its going to take the engagement of everyone that lives there. So we work with about 200 different communities, 100 local governments from places as diverse as dallas, texas to san jose, california, l. A. Places in iowa. You just mentioned des moines, to dayton ohio, which is our first welcoming certified city. And the reason i mention all these places is because what weve seen is a trend of local leaders wanted to step up and while federal Immigration Reform is a federal issue, integragds doesnt have to be. Its something local leaders can do and are doing. They just opened up an office and theres so much you dont know where to start sometimes because coo you focus on owork force or english classes . How do you get your immigrant and refugees to come to city hall to know who to call when their water isnt working. This is part of making your community a place everyone belongs and thrives and feels like theyre contributing. Welcoming week is so critical to the mission of our organization because it goes back the idea of encouraging every day people to put on events to welcome their neighbor. So a lot of our city governments are leading in the different events but we have Community Leaders doing it as well whether theyre soccer festivals, which has been popular, events in school. Theres like a Business Corner event in charlotte and this is the sixth year were doing it and there are 713 events going on across the country this week with 324 unique hosts. So which tells us despite this negative rhetoric were hearing at the National Level, at the local level people want to roll up their sleeves and celebrate the richness that exists in their kmund. In setting up your new office, how do you go about the process of thinking through what the greatest needs are. And dallas wasnt directly impacted by the storm. How you approached that moment of challenge as well. We have five and thats where the Technical Assistance becomes so important. All of these are intertwined. So you could see it from a point of how do we make this more inclusive so everyone feels like they have skin in the game . Thats our goal is to set it up to where were focusing on priorities as well as forces that cause us to shift and pivot. But thats the whole point is to be available to our residents to make sure they feel welcome and to expand relationships so that they become sievically engaged. We often hear this Significant Group doesnt participate. Maybe you have to rethink the way youre doing your business. Thats why were doing this work. As an example, perhaps, we received many evacuees from the Southeast Texas area and our Office Shifts into emergency mode and opening four shelters. Liz, make sure your office is there on site so Everybody Knows who is the welcoming space because it was different than say the katrina situation. There different than say the katrina situation. There were a lot of immigrants in the shift to dallas. Houston has the greatest number of immigrants living in the houston area, dallas is only second to houston. Its working with your local responders and consulates. Our Mexican Consulate came on board and were able to provide emergency relief assistance. We were there all day from 7 a. M. To 7 00 p. M. At night helping people. Thats one example. Liz touches on important points we are trying to stress upon as cities look at these issues. The offices of immigrant affairs, part of their job is to work with agencies across city government. If were not changing how were delivering service, were not doing our job. In terms of making sure your front line workers have some kind of language capability, i lived in atlanta a couple years working for the mayor there building his immigrant initiative and i remember going to 311 and learning they had maybe three phone calls in spanish every week. That wasnt reflective of the population which meant we werent doing our job to make the Community Aware there was way of getting services. The second point you brought up, building of coalition, not just the internalizing but the other groups outside the community youre bringing to the community. If youre thinking about a welcoming place and inclusive community, it has to be something everyone buys into. Or it wont work. How to bring those important stake holders to the table as you come wake up a Strategic Plan for the future really looking at areas of safe and connected communities, economic power and engagement viv sci engagement and moving for ward and where you want to be 20 years from now and 50 years from now. Senator one thing i was struck by in your earlier remarks was efforts to work with state and local Law Enforcement in california in order to get an agreement done the values act. Im struck by i remember at the press conference that was held, i think with you, eric holder, police chief beck from los angeles talking through the importance of the legislation. What were seeing in opening remarks an increase in arrest of laerls not targets of federal enforcement action and those around who dont have criminal convictions. The importance of the california act in that environment with the ending of daca and 800,000 individuals who could become unauthorized and arrests in the coming months 430,000 individuals in the country with temporary protected status, many here for 20 years with lawful institu institute lawful status if the government does not change that. How do you see it not just now but two or three or four months from now. Let me put this in context with the values act and see if i can successfully complete the circle. You mentioned tps, daca, the dreamers, those in this country a very long time yet to normalize their status and become permanent residents or temporary residents with a work permit. When i introduced the senate value bill, i had former attorney general eric holder review it, a team of lawyers from the department of justice vet it. When i introduced it, i felt very comfortable it could hold constitutional muster irregardless have Jeff Sessions says at the department of justice. When they litigate, im sure they will litigate, i feel comfortable in a court of law. If we get to the Supreme Court, i dont know what the makeup will be or end decision will be, we felt comfortable it was constitutional. Engaging with local Law Enforcement was critical in particular Police Chiefs i give a lot of credit to, their mindset is different because i said earlier they are Solutions Oriented opposed to political result, amplifying polarizing the situation even more which does not help, it actually hurts the situation even more. Working with police chief charlie beck in los angeles, police chief second Largest Police force in the country after new york city and eric holder we felt we had a strong legitimate case to present to the people of california that it was imperative that we do everything within our power to protect the 98 of immigrants who are hard working individuals who contribute greatly to our economy, culture, our community. If in fact trump attempts to deputize, commonde relocal Police Officers you wont be able to do that in california. You may be able to do that in other states. I want to give props to cities in texas like dallas, san antonio, austin, because you are right. The state leadership in texas, greg abbott, the attorney general have really, my counterpart peer leader of the senate i believe is chief author of sb4, one of the biggest promoters, were diametrically opposing universes, if you will. They have really moved forward, not just antiimmigrant measures but measures really meanspirited, really go out of their way to hurt people. We view this as a threat because it harms our Economic Prosperity as a state. Tps, daca, people have been here 10, 15, 20, 25 years and yet to legalize their status. The full circle is where were at today which is washington, d. C. Washington is the source of the problem. Theyre the origins of the dysfunction that is being manifested in local cities, states and counties throughout the country because they have not been able to get their act together in washington, d. C. And move forward, common sense, sensible measure to deal with this issue. You have many states and counties and cities throughout the country moving forward with this patchwork of policy, some very draconian and meanspirited like the State Government of texas, and other states and some very progressive minded folks in houston and dallas and washington, d. C. And atlanta and every city and county in california, and oregon and washington very progressive states. Hawaii. I was there a day and half and met with the governor and two u. S. Senators and attorney general. I remember giving a speech in hawaii, said, you guys are an incredible state. Youre a state of 1. 4 million. Youre punching way over your weight. You probably have no more muslims, i can count one hand or two hands in the state of hawaii. You are true americans because you believe in inclusivity and you believe everyone should have an opportunity to succeed. This is what america is all about. The fact they were the first state forward out there to sue the Trump Administration on the travel ban speaks volumes to the resiliency of even small states like a state like hawaii who is really standing up for immigrants and understand and recognize they contribute greatly to our Economic Prosperity. The state of iowa, my brotherinlaw whos my exbrotherinlaw now, who used to work in the slaughter house in iowa, he said it was very cold there. You had cities and counties that were economically depressed because of demographics and age, now you have folks who have revitalized these small towns and counties. Unfortunately, sally, some folks view it as a threat. With communication and education and bonding together we can overcome that. The one thing is this. You have politics who will walk into anywhere, even california, texas, midwest, southeastern city, states, who smell economic anxiety, panic and fear because unemployment, high unemployment, because someone perhaps lost their house, lost their wife, lost their family, lost their kids, lost everything. To numb the pain whether opiate addiction or whatever it was, the politician walks in and smells that anxiety and fear instead of moving forward a proactive solution to help improve the condition for all individuals for qualifiable policies for viable Economic Growth what they do is pit one group against another group and say youre economically depressed and despondent because of those individuals who look different, who speak different, who come from a different place than you. Thats whats torn at the fabric who we are as a great nation. Irregardless who occupies the white house at this moment this is still the greatest country on earth. We have major challenges to overcome politically to make sure we respect inclusivity and diversity, that we dont bat in or deport it or wall it off. Thats who we are as a great nation. These local leaders at the local level and Police Chiefs forward thinking, inclusive, who see the value and benefit, these are the Great Stories of this great country irregardless again who occupies the white house. In spite of whats happening right now, im very bullish on this country. It goes back ultimately to the congress over there. They have yet to get their act together because if they normalize the status we wouldnt be having these battles happening all over the country. Chief, could you respond to a little bit of that. One thing the senator referred to earlier was attorney general Jeff Sessions and the efforts to bully state and local Law Enforcement into becoming more wrap update in federal Immigration Enforcement duties. You mentioned you had conversations with Law Enforcement in california that mentioned sb 54 didnt interfere with the ability to cooperate inanity trafficking or counterterrorism measures. The legislation advanced in congress, executive orders initially signed specifically jeopardize precisely that kind of cooperation with states and localities that decided to adopt policies in furtherance of their Public Safety mission in compliance with the constitution. Thinking about the way in which your community interacts as a Law Enforcement official you interact with your community, the role the federal government can play in helping you have a relationship with your community or complicating that relationship. What do you think about whats going on now . I think its sad at state level and National Level were legislating or attempting to legislate how local Law Enforcement should interact with its public in any fashion. Law enforcement is local no matter how you want to define it. In our communities and city council and county board of supervisors dictate and create a philosophy how they want their local Law Enforcement to operate. Most of it is based on needs of the people in that particular jurisdiction. Its sad there are other entities trying to come in, in my opinion, impact and interfere with local control, local elected officials and Police Chiefs and sheriffs on how we minister and interact with the people we serve. The reality is theres also a contradictions coming in our country. True community policing, the Law Enforcement officer taking ownership in the public that he or she serves, and that public taking ownership in that Law Enforcement agency, True Community policing is all about relationships and creating those relationships and working together to create a safe environment in this cities and counties we work in. The best way to enhance that and to improve that and to perfect that is to have good relationships with the people you serve. That goes to knowing your public, knowing your publics and creating those relationships. If you have folks out there that dont trust the police, dont understand the police and viceversa, that impacts the efforts of enhancing the safety and security of the community. On a federal and National Level, for several years now, weve seen, for a variety of reason, some of which are around the issues of police use of force, weve seen communities rise up and demonstrate and real friction, primarily larger more urban areas. Every expert, every pundit, every individual has wed in on that and said one of the reasons or a common denominator is that perhaps local Law Enforcement has not created relationships and had good communications. So on one hand we have a National Debate in some cases where Law Enforcement needs to do better. I am a believer in this, in creating relationships with the people they serve. On the other side, we have a National Debate pushing people into the shadows and pushing people away from Law Enforcement and impacting that ability to create those relationships. Whats it going to be . Do we want to have safe communities and everybody invested . If thats the case we need to move towards go Immigration Reform. We need to have anybody and everybody who comes to your community and mine, comes there to work and live and play, whatever that may be, feel comfortable at their local Law Enforcement, were there to serve them and thats not the case primarily whether its the daca debate or immigration as a whole. For that reason theres a conflict there rubbing coming from a national perspective. From a local perspective, i am employed to serve anybody and everybody who comes to my community, i dont care who they are and i dont care where theyre from. I dont believe local Law Enforcement should be involved in Immigration Enforcement and i have openly publicly told our community that. My mayor and city council have never told note to say that. At the end you talk about the daca debate. By october 5th anybody whose documents are expiring and they have to put in, i think 30 Million Dollars to help with Financial Assistance and the state of rhode island said they could help with funding for new applications. Thats one urgent funding coming up. By december a Building Campaign and chorus, that large scale coalition you were describing, senator, to get congress to step up and provide a permanent solution for this population. Im curious how each of you in your current roles are thinking about approaching it and engaging in conversation whether through talking to your local communities or think through Practical Solutions like california did or any of the sort. You can start whether who ever is it a ticking time bomb or is it an opportunity . Ive had the occasion to speak on behalf of daca, to our federal representatives and folks on both sides of the aisle. I have a sense nobody wants to punish people who are here for no reason of their own, in that particular dynamic of daca. If we approach it and if our elected officials approach it as a ticking time bomb, it will be a ticking time bomb. If they approach it as an opportunity with a six month window to move forward and help this group of people under daca, i think its an opportunity. The issue is, as it always is, no matter, senator you know this better than anybody, there has to be compromise and folks have to get out of their comfort zone, in my opinion, and go to an area where they may not be comfortable to create a compromise that takes care of these children and young adults. I prefer to approach it from a glass half full. Tom, let me add, the president didnt have to make this decision. There was no need to terminate daca. Hes not doing it for legal purposes, hes doing it for political purposes, lets be very clear about that. Theres no room for ambiguity or misinterpretation or vagueness. This is a pure political decision not based on legal analysis. The department of justice and Jeff Sessions did not want to defend this litigation through the appellate process, going to the u. S. Supreme court. Jeff session is an outspoken critic of daca or any type of Immigration Reform package with a compromise. In any form, way or shape. This was unnecessary. He didnt have to do it. Now, the question becomes what happens between now and the six months when it does expire for a lot of these young men and women. Does the president want it both ways . In other words, he wants to eliminate it and punt it over to the congress, saying publicly its on you. If you want to take care of it and take care of it right now. Today, i havent seen the congress, either paul ryan or mitch mcconnell, able to solve any complex policy measures to date. I oppose the evisceration of the aca. They have complete control of both the congress and u. S. Senate as well as executive branch and they have not been able to repeal or eviserate the aca. We can go through a whole laundry list. They show capacity, as polarizing this issue is how the freed Freedom Caucus in the congress will allow paul ryan to move forward on any issue in daca, i dont have that confidence. The chief is right as to compromise, you have to compromise and dont want to negotiate against yourself but you dont want to be in a position you negotiated against yourself and you found a temporary compromise, you wont find a permanent compromise with this congress, the makeup. If you find a temporary compromise, the cost is you just had the parents removed from the country, now the daca young men and women are fatherless and motherless and their moral support system structure has been completely eviscerated because that was sophies choice decision. Said from day one this is a president you cannot negotiate with because he will betray you in a heart beat. It didnt take much to see how he treated republicans during the course of the president ial primary. Theres nothing worse than a sore loser than a sore winner. When you saw the way he treated republican folks that he that he conquested, defeated, that gave you an insight to his psychology, how he would treat everyone else. He is being driven by forces not good for the country, in more than the past 50 years to tear at the fabric whove we are as a great country. Im not as bullish that the congress has either a, the desire or b, the capability to accomplish something because this is common sense. This is not difficult. A major accomplishment in washington is debt ceiling. That is a huge accomplishment. That this is modicum baseline of a major accomplishment, very disappointing. This is not difficult, not complex. It should be done easily. I dont think this administration has any desire and i dont think that the congress currently makeup has the capacity. I will just say daca is very important to our state in texas, local economy. People who have daca protections are vol dick torians, first responders, members of the armed forces, bilingual teachers, engineers, every profession they have gone out to. When i was a young attorney it was introduced in 2001, no longer that young attorney, these young are no longer children, many of them. Theyre professionals and theyre fighting the good fight locally and nationally. We have a very vibrant Youth Leadership of people who have daca in our community. Its about what the senator said earlier about building the coalitions we need to form a coalition, because as wendy said, not only a moral imperative, an economic imperative for our communities. Thats where we are. Any thoughts on that one . Last thing. To lizs point. Dreamers are such a vital part of all the communities we work with. From our standpoint were trying to figure out the best ways to support local leadership. The economic information you guys has put out has been critical particularly in places in the rust belt where they want to point to and can point to the fact that having Daca Recipients are really critical to having a population to be perfectly frank, and keeping them is really in the best interest in the country in general but all the regions in the country. Were seeing it how can we support getting that message out as the best speakers for this are really people on the ground. I think we want to open the conversation a little bit and take questions from the audience. We want to ask you to keep your questions concise and start off with your name and affiliation. Yes. A wonderful presentation. The thing im concerned with this is world federalism no one uttered. Suppose the courts rule that those states that want to grant citizenship to daca and refuse to let local Law Enforcement be deputized by the justice department, have the right to do so, and those states that would deny citizenship for daca, and want have no objection to their local Law Enforcement essentially deputized as federals have the right to do so, and see what happens. What would the consequences of this federalistic approach be . I personally think local Law Enforcement should never be deputized, and that daca people should have the right to citizenship. But suppose the Supreme Court rules that on this federalistic approach . You pose an intriguing question. Im not either a constitution list or expert when it comes to federalism. I know federalism was used successfully on behalf of the state of texas. Greg abbott, thats the name, abbott, and ken paxton the a. G. Of the on administration were the lit gators on daca with the state of texas enlisting and many other states throughout the country. Its a double side, a doubleedged sword. If that were to dom fruition at the u. S. Supreme court level, those states that respect and believe that by including hard working immigrants who bear laws and tax paying residents and pledge allegiance to the flag we can confer, we cant confer per the constitution or natural citizenship, that cant be done unless theres a constitutional change. On the flip side, for those states who may not be as forward thinking, inclusive and moving forward draconian measure is a good question. I think its happening as we speak, being manifest in different ways throughout the country. This is a reflection of the values of politics on the spectrum, whether its on the left or the right. I want to give credit to a handful of republicans in both chambers here who are very supportive vocally for daca. The very hard extreme right have influenced disproportionately the debate from within the gop and commandeer and highjacked if you will the policy debate that made other republicans cower, if you will, in fear of being ostracized by the leadership and those who have the Financial Resources to move the agenda. You pose an intriguing question. I dont know necessarily if it will ever come to fruition but a legitimate question to ask. Thank you very much. June oconnell, former immigration attorney. Id kind of like to challenge the senators statement that washington is the problem. I dont disagree with that except that its fed by apathy of the voters in the various states. Either congressman or senator believes that the people who didnt vote for him or her dont matter because after the election, they go away, and theyre silent. Senators and congressman are more worried about the Koch Brothers than they are their constituents. So with the aca debate previously we saw people who didnt vote for dana ror back try to get him to a town hall meeting. To me, yes, theres a problem in washington, but its i want you to comment on the fact that isnt it emboldened by essentially the pap the of the various peoples . You know, whether folks are p apathetic to a variety of issues, i do believe its incumbent on both sides of the aisle. They shouldnt be driven by poll numbers or constituent calls or visits, town halls, et cetera. This has been a lingering issue for decades. Out of fairness, theres blame to be spread across the board without question. I recognize with dreamers and daca under barack obama who through an executive order authorized it, it was the dreamers themselves who moved this up the political chain. I dont think apathy i respect your perspective, i dont believe apathy is the justification to do the right thing. We see poll after poll, quantitative research, even among republicans prior to the election of President Trump through the electoral college, even among republicans, they say, we agree, bring folks out from the shadow, theyre law abiding tax paying residents already. Theyve been here for decade, lets normalize them and get over with. Theyre here and not going anywhere else. Now, we have a Trump Administration who highly politicized this situation to further divide this issue as if we separate mothers from their children that will be the panacea to all our economic ills that somehow the air will get cleaner and somehow the water safer to drink and Economic Prosperity from the midwest to rust belt and Central Valley and california and elsewhere. We know thats a false promise an falls narrative. Stoking the flames of hatred and division doesnt serve this country well. Weve seen interest the past and i can say from experience proposition 187 with the republicans, its a short term victory. It comes at a very high cost. If i would say to my friends in the gop here at the National Level, it doesnt end up well for you. In the long run its not going to end up well for you. You will cash in with short term victories but they will be at a high cost. I dont say this as partisan or leader of the senate or democrat i say this objectively. I saw this happen in california. We sent Ronald Reagan to become republican of the United States. We sent Richard Nixon a republican to become president of the United States. We have had pete wilson and many other u. S. Senators. Pete wilson, duke major and Ronald Reagan, arnold schwarzenegger, although hes a very liberal republican. That has changed. The bellwether was proposition 187. That changed the whole dynamic completely. People were so put offy so offendedso put off, so offended you would go out of your way to provide Simplistic Solutions to complex issues and not being up front with the people, agnostic, whatever, and we need Economic Issues to deal with economic pain, rust belt, parts of california as well folks need help. Not to pit one group against one another. That wont solve any of our ills. That was longwinded answer, i apologize, i went around it. Just get back, i dont think apathy should be the driver or lack thereof to get the job done and do what you need to do, its your responsibility. Thats why youre here. On that, a charge we unfortunately dont have time for more questions. I do want to thank everyone for coming to the event and panelists very much and the senator for giving the keynote address. If you want to follow along afterwards, we will have a discussion and archive the video on the website. Thank you very much for coming. [inaudible conversations] friday on cspan3, a discussion about Homeland Security and immigration with panel that includes former Homeland Security secretary janet napolitano. Live coverage from the Brookings Institution begins at 10 a. M. Eastern time. Next week in congress the senate is expected to vote on a new republican healthcare bill. Members will work on reauthorizing several programs set to expire on september 30th including the Childrens Health Insurance Program and the faa. You can watch our live coverage of the house on cspan and live coverage of the senate on cspan2. This weekend on American History tv on cspan3, saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on lectures in history, Andrew Eisenberg on the Environmental Movement in the 1970s. What i want to argue here is that the noble savage environmentalist was a kind of product sold to American Consumers just like big macs and cars. At 10 30 p. M. , john penny a United Airlines captain and penny henne, a former National Guard f16 pilot talk about their experiences during 9 11. We take off and we head northeast into a serene and peaceful and silent sky. Theres no one airborne. We head out to the northwest and we never find anything. We were not heroes that day. The passengers on flight 93 were the heroes. On sunday at 6 00 p. M. Eastern on american artifacts tour the Harriet Tubman underground railroad visitor senator. That was horrific physical injury for a Young Harriet tugman. It opened up a new world for her. She got temporary epilepsy and had visions and access to god and heard voices and people singing and had very vivid dreams terrible on the physical side but absolutely amazing for her faith. At 7 00 on oral history, photojournalists continues with eric draper. That image that shows dan bartlett the Communications Director pointing to the tv, that was the first time we started seeing the replay of the second tower getting hit. American history tv all weekend every weekend only on cspan3. That was early on when i believe trump had Just Announced and they were worried that he was going to be bad for them, in terms of women voters. I thought, really . Youre worried now considering how far back theyve had an antiwoman platform, with reproductive rights, equal pay. Sunday night on q a, Washington Post pulitz prize Award Winning cartoonist. This is Vice President pence. There wasnt i dont remember who did the interview. He was interviewed and said Something Like he never goes to any washington dinners without his wife. I thought, okay, this was a gift, i just thought, really . You dont have any problem voting about a womans personal reproductive choices probably the most personal and intimate thing a woman can deal with but you wont go to din a woman fully clothed is at the same table. Sunday night, 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspans q a. This pat saturday protesters gathered on the National Mall in washington, d. C. For what they called the mother of all rallies. Organizers said the rally was held in honor of the United States of america and in support of President Trump. Political candidates from across the country were among the speakers at this rally