California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 40

Introduced by Assembly Members Nazarian and Levine

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo, Atkins, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dodd, Eggman, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gray, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Lopez, Low, Medina, Mullin, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone, Ting, Weber, and Wood)

(Coauthor: Senator Allen)

May 19, 2016

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 40—Relative to the United States-Mexico border.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AJR 40, as introduced, Nazarian. United States-Mexico border.

The measure would urge the Members of Congress to work to recognize Mexican American families’ needs to visit family members in Mexico and increase commerce between our nations by reducing border delays through a more open border and to speak out against and to reject efforts to build a wall along the United States-Mexico border.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, California and Mexico share more than 130 miles
of an international border that is 1,954 miles long. The border
region is home to tremendous cultural history and economic
commerce between the United States and Mexico; and

WHEREAS, In California, 12 million (32 percent) of the 38
million residents are of Mexican descent. California has one of
the highest concentrations of Spanish speakers in the United States.
In Southern California, between Los Angeles and the Mexican
border, 40 percent of the population speaks Spanish. If the City of
Los Angeles were in Mexico, its five million Mexican residents
would make it the fourth largest city in Mexico (after Mexico City,
Guadalajara, and Monterrey). Mexican Americans frequently find
it challenging to travel back and forth between Mexico and
California, thereby making family visits to Mexico difficult; and

WHEREAS, Achievements by Latinos in America and
California include contributions to all facets of our community;
and

WHEREAS, Latino voters continue to go to the polls in record
numbers and influence the entrance of newly elected Latino public
officials in both the Democratic and Republican parties and
influence issues that encompass providing affordable housing,
investing in our children, ensuring that higher education is
affordable and accessible, creating good paying jobs for working
families, and improving the overall quality of life for all
Californians; and

WHEREAS, California’s Latinos have contributed to the state’s
culture and society through their many achievements in music,
food, dance, poetry, literature, architecture, entertainment, sports,
and a broad spectrum of artistic expression; and

WHEREAS, Latinos in California have challenged the frontiers
of social and economic justice, thereby improving the working
conditions and lives of countless Californians; and

WHEREAS, Mexico has the largest network of free trade
agreements in the world, with a total of 12 free trade agreements
involving 44 countries, on three different continents. United States
trade with Mexico and Canada has more than tripled since 1994.
United States exports to Mexico increased from $54.8 billion in
1994 to $226.2 billion in 2013. Imports from Mexico increased
from $51.6 billion in 1994 to $280.5 billion in 2013. Mexico’s
economy has increasingly become oriented toward manufacturing.
The United States has free trade agreements in force with 20
markets around the world, including Mexico. In 2014, 47 percent
($765.2 billion) of United States goods were exported to free trade
agreement countries; and

WHEREAS, In 2014, California exported $174.1 billion to 229
foreign economies and accounted for 10.7 percent of total United
States exports. In 2015, California’s largest export market was
Mexico, which purchased $26.8 billion (17.4 percent) of all the
states exports in 2015; and

WHEREAS, Approximately 177,000 California jobs (17 percent
of all export-supported jobs in California) are related to the
commercial relationship with Mexico. Commerce, tourism, and
foreign direct investment from Mexico support more than 200,000
jobs in California (1.5 percent of the total number of payroll jobs
in California); and

WHEREAS, Border crossing delays at the United States-Mexico
border accounted for an estimated output loss of $3.9 billion and
a 30,000 national job loss due to reduced output in 2008. In
California, losses were estimated at $3.2 billion and a 25,000 job
loss. Research shows that if border delays continue to grow,
economic losses will continue to increase significantly by 2017
and could cost the United States economy nearly 54,000 jobs and
$12 billion in output annually resulting in an estimated cumulative
loss of $86 billion. California’s cumulative economic loss in output
due to in-state border delays over the next 10 years is estimated
to be $4.5 billion; and

WHEREAS, Some American political figures have proposed
or publicly supported building a wall between the United States
and Mexico. Using precast cement wall panels, it is estimated that
it would take four years, 339 million cubic feet of concrete and 5
billion pounds of reinforced steel to build the wall at a cost of
approximately $10.6 billion; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully requests that
the Members of Congress work to recognize Mexican American
families’ needs to visit family members in Mexico and increase
commerce between our nations by reducing border delays through
a more open border and to speak out against and to reject efforts
to build a wall along the United States-Mexico border; and be it
further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.