RSS Feed
Print Story
E-mail Story
Couch: City should take stand
Councilman's proposed resolutions on issue said to be symbolic, but disturb some
| Tuesday, Jul 17 2007 11:25 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Jul 17 2007 11:28 PM
The battle over illegal immigration is coming to Bakersfield City Hall. Councilman David Couch said he plans to introduce three resolutions at today's City Council meeting that would stake out the city's stance on one of the country's most controversial topics.
BAKERSFIELD.COM HOT TOPICS:
Loading Stories
Advertisement
The proposed resolutions are mostly symbolic, he said, and that's the point.
"Part of this is to get the attention of county, state and federal officials," Couch said. "I harbor no illusions that the city of Bakersfield doing this will radically change federal policy."
The resolutions would:
* Declare that English is the official language of Bakersfield.
* Declare that Bakersfield is not and will not be a "sanctuary city" for illegal immigrants.
* Instruct city staff to look for city services that can be cut off to illegal immigrants.
Only the resolution about services should be controversial, Couch said. He said he couldn't think of any services that would be candidates for cutoff.
"I think we're going to find that more of those types of services are provided by the county, as an agent of the state and federal government," he said.
The resolutions won't be up for a vote tonight. They could be on the agenda at the council's next meeting, which isn't until Aug. 15.
Couch won't even be around for long tonight. He has a plane to catch for an out-of-town business trip, so he can't stay if the meeting runs long, he said.
Typically, introduction of a resolution is done at the end of the meeting, but Couch said he'll ask for it to be moved up so he can make his statement before he has to leave.
Because he'll have to leave, he was considering holding his proposal back for a month. But he was asked to talk about immigration on KERN radio Tuesday morning, and decided he was ready to make his announcement then, he said.
Couch said he doesn't expect that adopting English as the official language would have any impact on city policies.
"It's already the official language of the state, so it just reinforces that," he said. The California Constitution says English is the official language. The United States has no official language.
City publications could still be in Spanish, he said.
And declaring that the city is not a "sanctuary city" would mean no change to policies, he said.
Sanctuary cities are those in which local officials won't enforce federal immigration laws or cooperate with federal agencies trying to enforce those laws. Couch said that's the opposite of what any public official should do.
Currently, Bakersfield police don't make arrests for immigration violations, said Sgt. Scott McDonald. If a foreign national is arrested, the jail is notified of their status, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is notified. But if someone is pulled over for a traffic violation, he said, the officer would typically not know the person's immigration status.
Camila Chavez, executive director of the Bakersfield-based Dolores Huerta Foundation, was stunned by news of the proposal Tuesday.
"Oh wow. That's crazy," she said Tuesday. "I'd like to hear more about what he's proposing. We'll definitely be there at the City Council tomorrow."
Jack Duncan, executive director of the Kern County Republican Party, hadn't heard of the proposal but said it sounded like a good idea.
"I think the city's not the first, nor going to be the last," he said. "I think ultimately we're going to have to resolve this issue. I'd like to see a comprehensive plan too, but apparently the people in Washington, D.C., are not serious about doing anything."
Matthew Park, executive director of the Kern County Farm Bureau, said he doesn't know what impact the move would have, as farmworkers could live outside the city limits.
"We would support whatever the councilman may do, but just ask he look at what effects it may or may not have on the local economy," Park said.
But he agreed with Duncan that this is a national issue that isn't being taken care of.
"It just emphasizes the need for, at the national level, some sort of immigration reform," he said.
"Farmworkers contribute to the city of Bakersfield daily," said Alisha Rosas, spokeswoman for the United Farm Workers in Los Angeles, in a statement. "The UFW recommends Councilman David Couch think about those who help feed him and his family daily before attempting to push his resolutions forward."
Couch said the federal government's failure to act is the root cause that he is trying to address, and other cities and states are trying their own solutions.
"People at the local level are grappling with, 'How can we address this issue when the federal government is not?'" he said.