California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 38

Introduced by Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia

April 27, 2016

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 38—Relative to immigration.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AJR 38, as introduced, Eduardo Garcia. Foreign nationals: CHANGE Act.

This measure would urge the United States Congress to pass, and the President of the United States to sign, the Correcting Hurtful and Alienating Names in Government Expression (CHANGE) Act.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, California has over 10 million immigrants - one
in four of the foreign-born population nationwide;

WHEREAS, California is home to large groups of immigrants
from more than 60 countries; and

WHEREAS, Immigrants are projected to make up 27 percent
of the state’s population in 2030, the same share as in 2013; and

WHEREAS, Immigrants are a keystone part of our culture,
politics, and society and have helped shape California’s strong
identity; and

WHEREAS, More than a third of working-age adults in the state
are immigrants, contributing largely to our state’s entrepreneurial
and economic success; and

WHEREAS, Immigration remains at the center of national
debate and particular words have become hurtful; and

WHEREAS, The terms “illegal” and “alien,” when used in
reference to people, have undergone demeaning and derogatory
connotations and have become increasingly associated with racist
sentiments; and

WHEREAS, The legitimacy of the word “alien” as a legal
definition is being called into question with our state’s passage of
Senate Bill 432 in 2015; and

WHEREAS, Prominent media and newspaper organizations
nationwide have stopped using the terms “illegal” and “alien” to
describe people immigrating to, and residing in, the United States;
and

WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 1850 of the 2015-16 Regular Session
would delete the word “illegal” and would also replace the word
“alien” with “foreign national” in provisions of the California
Education Code if federal law also makes the same changes; and

WHEREAS, United States House Representative Joaquin Castro
has introduced H. R. 3785 in the 114th Congress, also known as
the Correcting Hurtful and Alienating Names in Government
Expression (CHANGE) Act, that would prohibit federal executive
agencies from using the derogatory term “alien” to refer to an
individual who is not a citizen or national of the United States;
now, therefore, be it

Resolved, by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urge the United States
Congress to pass, and the President of the United States to sign,
the Correcting Hurtful and Alienating Names in Government
Expression (CHANGE) Act; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the President and 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.