Immigration and SB 54:
Many District 4 residents have written directly to Candidate Desiree T. Washington for her views on Immigration and SB 54. While the Board of Supervisors does not legislate at the state level, the Board does have the ability to file lawsuits on behalf of its residents, as many California counties and cities have done, in opposition to SB 54 (San Diego, Orange County, etc). To that end, Desiree's position is as follows:
Desiree T. Washington is concerned for the well-being of all residents in Los Angeles County and would, therefore, like to see SB 54 either modified or repealed and redrafted, whichever can best harmonize the President's clear right to enforce federal immigration laws with our local concern that:
(a) US citizens, legal immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers are not erroneously detained; and
(b) Undocumented persons unauthorized to reside in the US are treated with basic human rights when detained and swiftly deported.
In its current form, Desiree believes SB 54 unfairly favors undocumented persons over US citizens and legal immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers when it comes to providing data to out-of-state entities for extradition purposes. A citizen's data will be shared with neighboring states, and if there is public charge, extradited to the state where the charges are filed, regardless of the type of violation or the impact the extradition may have on his/her domestic life. Under Sanctuary laws, undocumented persons remain in state, if arrested at all.
Desiree believes SB 54 can be more narrowly tailored to address the concern that citizens and legal residents are not detained, and that detainees are afforded basic human rights, without encouraging lawlessness, without providing wholesale sanctuary to every undocumented person who wants to live in the US, and without shielding undocumented people from basic extradition laws to which US citizens are subjected.