2017-105 Calling Upon Congress to Continue the Existing DACA Program and Provide DACA Recipients with a Pathway to Permanent Residence and Eventual US Citizenship RESOLUTION 2017-105
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ENCINITAS
CALLING UPON CONGRESS TO CONTINUE THE EXISTING
DACA PROGRAM AND PROVIDE DACA RECIPIENTS WITH
A PATHWAY TO PERMANENT RESIDENCE AND
EVENTUAL US CITIZENSHIP
WHEREAS, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program,
implemented in 2012, offered work authorization and a renewable two-year reprieve from
deportation to unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the United States as
children and met specific eligibility requirements;
WHEREAS, to be eligible for the DACA program,some of the requirements for
applicants included having entered the United States prior to the age of 16;being
enrolled in school; having earned a high school diploma or its equivalent or having
been honorably discharged from the United States Armed Forces or Coast Guard;
WHEREAS, DACA recipients are commingly referred to as "Dreamers;"
WHEREAS, according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS), as of March 2017,some 887,000 individuals had applied for DACA and
788,000 applications had been approved;
WHEREAS, according to the Pew Research Center, there are 222,795 DACA
recipients in California, more than a quarter of the program's total;
WHEREAS, supportive communities and supportive public schools are
important components to the successful assimilation of Dreamers into American society;
WHEREAS,there are no fewer than four separate bills pending in Congress to
address the DACA program,including the bipartisan"DREAM Act,"sponsored by
Senators Lindsey Graham(R-SC)and Richard Durbin (D-IL)to expand eligibility for
conditional residency to L8 million immigrants, including all DACA recipients,who
entered the United States before the age of 18 and who have been in the country longer
than four years, and the Republican-sponsored "Recognizing America's Child r en Act,"
which would provide conditional residency for immigrants who arrived in this country
before the age of 16 and who have been in the country for five years;
WHEREAS,more than 400 Chief Executive Officers (CEO s) of America's
largest corporations, including the CEOs of such companies as AT&T, Best Buy,Amazon,
Apple, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, Facebook and Alphabet, have signed a letter calling upon
the President to "preserve the DACA program," and calling upon Congress to "pass the
bipartisan DREAM Act or legislation that provides these young people raised in our
country, with the permanent solution they deserve; and
WHEREAS,the letter signed by more than 400 CEOs states that "97% (of
DACA participants) are in school or in the workforce" and that without these Dreamers, "the
US economy would lose $460.3 billion from the national GDP and $24.6 billion in Social
Security and Medicare tax contributions."
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Encinitas, California, does
resolve as follows:
1. That the above recitations are true and correct.
2. The City Council calls upon Congress to continue the existing DACA
program and provide DACA recipients with a pathway to permanent
residence and eventually United States citizenship.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 29th day of November, 2017, at a meeting of the
City Council of the City of Encinitas, California by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Blakespear, Boerner Horvath, Kranz, Mosca, Muir
NAYS: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None /Le
_(... r_________.Catherine S. Blakespear, Mayor
City of Encinitas
ATTEST:
Kathy Hollywoo , ity Clerk