WHEREAS, May 20, 2019, will mark the 23rd annual Immigrant Day of Action in Sacramento; and

WHEREAS, Each May for the past 22 years, hundreds of immigrant community leaders, clergy, and supporters from across the state have traveled to the Capitol to advocate for policies which honor immigrants    vital role in California   s civic, economic, cultural, and community life; and

WHEREAS, California is home to over 12,600,000 immigrants, the nation   s largest population; and

WHEREAS, California   s immigrant communities represent a diversity of countries, ethnicities, and languages; and

WHEREAS, Immigrants are deeply rooted in our state   s communities and families, with 49 percent of all children in California having at least one immigrant parent and 74 percent of noncitizens living in a home with citizens; and

WHEREAS, Immigrant Day began in the aftermath of discriminatory measures such as 1994   s Proposition 187, which sought to exclude immigrants from the safety net and health care and deny immigrant children from education, and 1996 federal law and regulation which effectively excluded many immigrants from vital public safety net programs providing care and support; and

WHEREAS, During the ensuing 20 years of community organizing and advocacy, Californians    views on immigration policies have drastically transformed, with approximately 75 percent of adults expressing support in recent polling for the inclusion, not deportation, of undocumented immigrant community members; and

WHEREAS, In recent years, the Legislature has approved, and the Governor has signed, a series of groundbreaking measures including measures known as the California Dream Act (Chapter 93 of the Statutes of 2011 (Assembly Bill 130) and Chapter 604 of the Statutes of 2011 (Assembly Bill 131)), the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (Chapter 374 of the Statutes of 2013 (Assembly Bill 241)), the Safe and Responsible Drivers Act (Chapter 524 of the Statutes of 2013 (Assembly Bill 60)), the TRUST Act (Chapter 570 of the Statutes of 2013 (Assembly Bill 4)), Health for All Kids (Chapter 18 of the Statutes of 2015 (Senate Bill 75)), the California Values Act (Chapter 495 of the Statutes of 2017 (Senate Bill 54)), and other measures to protect the rights of immigrant workers, which together have created a national blueprint for pro-immigrant policy; and

WHEREAS, California   s progress stands in contrast to the federal government   s ongoing failure to create a commonsense, humane immigration process, which has left many immigrant community members in California vulnerable to detention, deportation, criminalization, and abuse; and

WHEREAS, California   s immigrant communities continue to face many key challenges, including exclusion from health care, unsound United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation programs which are operating without transparency, an unjust deportation system with profound barriers to due process, and lack of access to community-based resources that can open the doors to citizenship or deportation relief for those eligible; and

WHEREAS, California   s location on the United States-Mexico border provides the state unique insights into the needs of border communities and the importance of upholding civil rights in the border region and guarding against abuses; and

WHEREAS, Divisive, hateful, and scapegoating rhetoric directed toward immigrants   particularly targeting Latino and Muslim communities, and accompanied by inflammatory rhetoric concerning the border   has received significant attention nationwide, increasing the need for continued pro-active policymaking that affirms immigrants    human rights; now, therefore, be it