A great speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill, once said that “all politics are local.” In the United States, it may soon be that the only decent politics are local politics.
Nearly half of U.S. agricultural workers are undocumented. In California, over a third of our hospitality workers are undocumented. In human terms, they’re our neighbors, colleagues, and friends. In financial terms, in Los Angeles County, they help pay $80 billion a year in federal taxes, more than any county the country. The whole state of Wyoming pays less than $5 billion – which means that LA’s undocumented workers are paying far more than their fair share of the bills of the national government that is now vowing to seize, incarcerate, and deport them.
If politicians really wanted to fix the immigration and asylum system, they would. But they don’t. They want to play politics at human beings’ expense. They’re willing to hurt our neighbors, colleagues, and friends and their children so they can get and keep power.
But the City of Angels respects the dignity of every human being. We call on the City Council to make Los Angeles great in the eyes of God and history today. Pass the sanctuary city ordinance and free Angelenos from the politics of cruelty.
[Remarks prepared for a press conference at Los Angeles City Hall this morning, called by labor leaders in support of a sanctuary city ordinance before the City Council. Also present were Bishop Mary Ann McDonald Swenson of the United Methodist Church, the Rev. John Watson of Church of the Epiphany and St. Athanasius Church in Los Angeles, and Troy Elder, executive director of IRIS.]
