BILL NUMBER: AJR 3	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	ADOPTED IN SENATE  JULY 1, 2013
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 5, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 5, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 6, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 2, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 10, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 1, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Alejo
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Atkins, Bonta, Campos,
Chesbro, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Garcia, Gordon, Gorell, Roger
Hernández, Levine, Medina, Muratsuchi, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk,
Rendon, Ting, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, Achadjian, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Chau, Chávez, Conway, Cooley, Daly, Fox, Frazier, Gatto,
Gomez, Gray, Jones-Sawyer, Linder, Lowenthal, Mitchell, Mullin,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Perea, John A. Pérez, Quirk-Silva,
Salas, Skinner, Stone, Torres, and Weber)
   (Coauthors: Senators Beall, Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De León,
Hancock, Lara, Lieu, Padilla, Steinberg, and Yee)

                        DECEMBER 3, 2012

   Relative to immigration.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 3, Alejo. Immigration.
   This measure would specify goals for the reform of the nation's
immigration system, and would urge Congress and the President of the
United States to take a humane and just approach to solving the
nation's broken immigration system.



   WHEREAS, The United States of America is a nation of values,
founded on the principles that all men and women are created equal,
and the promise of freedom for all; and
   WHEREAS, We are a nation of immigrants, who believe in the promise
of freedom and opportunity; and
   WHEREAS, The current immigration system is broken, antiquated, and
not meeting the challenges of the 21st century. It separates
families, including same-sex couple families, creates long backlogs
for families seeking reunification, and neglects the hard work and
financial contributions immigrants make to our country; and
   WHEREAS, Since 2008, more than 1.6 million immigrants have been
deported, and one in every 10 American children faces the threat of
the deportation of a parent; and
   WHEREAS, It is estimated that about 11 million undocumented
immigrants are in the United States, and California has the largest
population of immigrants, both legal and undocumented; and
   WHEREAS, Immigrants and their children constitute nearly one-half
of California's population and live and work in all 58 counties, most
notably in the San Diego, Central Valley, Los Angeles, Ventura, and
greater San Francisco areas; and
   WHEREAS, Approximately 77 percent of undocumented immigrants who
reside in California live with family members who are legal United
States residents and citizens; and
   WHEREAS, One in 10 workers in California is an undocumented
immigrant, and immigrants are a vibrant, productive, and vital part
of the state's growing economy; and
   WHEREAS, Immigrants are essential in keeping the American economy
strong; from technology programmers in the Silicon Valley to
restaurant owners and workers, immigrants are filling an intrinsic
need in the labor force; and
   WHEREAS, Agricultural workers have been performing very important
and difficult work to maintain America's food supply, and have a role
of ensuring that Americans have safe and secure agricultural
products to sell and consume; and
   WHEREAS, Students should not be punished for their immigration
status. Instead, they should be given recognition for their
sacrifice, hard work, and determination; and
   WHEREAS, The United States can do a better job of attracting and
keeping the world's best and brightest. A comprehensive immigration
reform should also grant immigrants who have received a Ph.D. or
master's degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics
from an American university the opportunity to invest in and
contribute to this great nation. For the future of our economy, it
makes no sense to educate the world's future innovators and
entrepreneurs only to ultimately force them to leave our country at
the moment they are most able to contribute to our economy; and
   WHEREAS, Modernizing our antiquated and dysfunctional immigration
system will uphold our nation's basic values of fairness and
equality, as well as access to health care; and
   WHEREAS, A comprehensive, as well as compassionate, approach to
solve our broken immigration system should be one that works for all
communities and families in America; and
   WHEREAS, A just immigration reform must ensure that it reflects
one of our basic values--that we all are created equal--thus
immigration reform must recognize each immigrant's full humanity; and

   WHEREAS, A proposal must be comprised of tenets that achieve all
of the following: (1) establish an earned citizenship process that
requires immigrants to pay back taxes and learn English; (2) enhance
security in our ports of entry to secure our nation; (3) reform
immigration enforcement programs that separate families to ensure
that family unification systems are strengthened; (4) upgrade the
current visa programs, including the creation of a guest worker
program for agricultural workers, in order to have a legal workforce
and a system that better enforces labor protections; and (5) uphold
due process as well as the inherent rights of all immigrants; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved, by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the President and the
Congress of the United States to take a humane and just approach to
solving our nation's broken immigration system; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and the Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, to the
Governor of California, and to the author of this resolution.