Dear Supporter,
Thank you for coming out this week. The energy and sense of community at the Mother’s Day Event and Budget Hearing was great!
Also, some of our members and allies in Los Angeles had some amazing wins! ICE out of LA worked to stop the 287(g) agreement and Dignity and Power Now pushed to get no former or current law enforcement on the Civilian Review Board.
Bit by bit, we are breaking away at the criminalization and trauma our communities experience in Los Angeles!
Now, we are asking you to participate in the #LABudget Week of Action. The Sheriff’s Department is begging for millions of dollars to build up their capacity and control, and we have to say no more!
Each day this week we will ask you to send an email and call the Chief Executive Office, LA Board of Supervisors, and the Sheriff’s Department to focus on a series of demands around the #LACountyBudget!
Action 1: #ICEoutofLA & #StopAdelantoExpansion –
Last week, ICE out of LA was able to stop one unjust anti-immigration policy, known as 287(g), from being reinstated in Los Angeles. However, they are still fighting the implementation of the Priority Enforcement Program, which allows immigration agents to have access to the fingerprints of every person booked in jail.
In the LA County Sheriff’s Budget there is an “unmet need” of $12 million for Immigration Enforcement Programs.
Togther we are also still fighting the expansion of two facilitites in Adelanto. The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors and the LA Sheriff have not brought it up for a vote YET. Media strongly suggests that Sheriff McDonnell has close ties with a lobbyist, former LA District Attorney Cooley, who is working to get a contract with LA County to send over 3,000 people to a not yet constructed jail in Adelanto.
For our first action, let’s make sure to let Los Angeles leadership know that we don’t want our people criminalized due to immigration status and we oppose all expansion of incarceration facilities. We need them to #StopAdelantoExpansion!
Our job this week is to demand a re-direction of dollars from law enforcement’s budget towards resources for all Los Angeles community members, wrap around services, community centers, a Youth Development department, a Civilian Review Board with teeth and reentry services.
We hope you can lend support at this critical moment that will lay the ground work for our future efforts.
In community,
Mariana Mendoza
Enlace, Programs Coordinator
Member of Californians United for a Responsible Budget
