Letters to the Editor: Latinx communities fighting racism don’t need Martinez, Cedillo and De León to stop being “brown”
For those who are unfamiliar with the ongoing crisis in the state of California, here’s an outline:
In 2018, a judge ruled that the state’s ban on “sanctuary” cities was unconstitutional, as were its policies related to immigration, the criminal-justice system, and sanctuary cities. The ruling was met with anger on the part of local officials and activists. In response, over 50 counties began taking steps in defiance of the ban. The state went on to file a lawsuit against the counties in an effort to enforce the ban. In January 2019, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a letter asking the district court to invalidate all of the “sanctuary” cities, and to invalidate all local laws in conflict with the ban.
As a result of the letter, the following counties: San Diego County, in a letter to Becerra and another county, filed their own lawsuit against California, claiming that the state’s actions were unconstitutional. San Diego County officials also filed a petition for a writ of mandamus, asking a state official named Matt Gonzalez to stop enforcing the ban. In a response filed in September 2019, Gonzalez said that he would not challenge the ban.
As a result of the letters, the following two counties: Fresno and Tulare, have also gone into court over the state’s actions. Fresno will be joined by its police department, with similar accusations regarding the state’s ban. The Tulare County Board of Supervisors will be joined by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office in a suit claiming that the state’s ban violates their Fourteenth Amendment rights.
In the midst of all this, the state has been using funds to help provide housing in these counties for immigrants from the six counties that did not comply with the new law. But the money has been directed towards those with a documented relationship with the state of California…but not towards the thousands of undocumented immigrants already living in those communities.
California has spent over $8 million on housing for immigrants, but has given over $7.8 million to the