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Escondido council to vote on immigration resolution

By J. Harry Jones
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

January 6, 2007

ESCONDIDO – Weeks after abandoning an ordinance intended to force out illegal immigrants, the City Council is scheduled to vote next week on a resolution about the issue.

The language used in the resolution mirrors some of language in the ordinance but is nothing more than a statement of opinion with no enforcement provisions, city Attorney Jeffrey Epp said. The council is scheduled to vote on it at its Wednesday meeting.

Proposed by Councilwoman Marie Waldron, who also proposed the ordinance, it asks the federal government to “authorize municipal governments to make inquiries on the legal status of people” and to enable local governments to address problems associated with illegal immigration.

The resolution reads in part: “Whereas, illegal immigration leads to higher crime rates, contributes to overcrowded classrooms and failing schools, subjects our hospitals to fiscal hardship and legal residents to substandard quality of care, and destroys our neighborhoods and diminishes our overall quality of life; . . . the city finds that it is in the best interest of and will serve and benefit the health, safety and welfare of the public and law-abiding business entities and property owners to commit to addressing the issues related to illegal immigration to deter and prevent criminal activity by illegal aliens . . . by aggressively working to prohibit and address acts, policies, people and businesses that aid and abet illegal aliens.”

J. Harry Jones: (760) 737-7579; jharry.jones@uniontrib.com