City OKs relocation funds for tenants

Illegal immigrants would be eligible

By Angela Lau
STAFF WRITER

July 11, 2008

After a brief hiatus from the limelight, illegal immigration again took center stage with the Escondido City Council.

This time, the debate focused on an estimated $1.8 million in relocation benefits that would be paid to tenants of Elder Place, a blighted, low-income apartment complex, part of which is scheduled for demolition.

It is not known how many undocumented immigrants live at Elder Place, but a relocation survey conducted in April showed that a significant number of its residents are day laborers.

All 244 residents in 38 households are Latino, and 12 households speak only Spanish. Some apartments have eight to 11 people living in them, the survey reported.

Come demolition time, all residents who can prove they have lived at Elder Place for 90 days before their buildings were purchased, regardless of immigration status, will be eligible for relocation benefits.

They include moving expenses and rental assistance, such as the first month's rent and security deposit for a new apartment.

The city expects that all 244 residents will have to be relocated eventually to make way for redevelopment and that it will spend $1.8 million in assistance, city officials said.

At the council meeting Wednesday, Vince McCaw, the city's San Diego-based relocation consultant, told the council that overcrowded households can be moved to larger apartments or split into different apartments.

That's when council members Sam Abed, Ed Gallo and Marie Waldron questioned why undocumented immigrants are entitled to such benefits.

“It's too bad we're spending $1.8 million,â€