Media Reports on Huntington Park, CA Appointment of Illegal Aliens

Huntington Park City Hall

The Marginalized Media goes to great lengths to diminish the legal and moral insanity of the Huntington Park, CA City Council appointing two illegal aliens to city commissions.

The Los Angeles Times headline wrote:

2 immigrants in U.S. illegally are named to Huntington Parkcommissions

"Immigrants in US illegally" are not immigrants. They are illegal aliens.

Fox News wrote a more candid title:

Tempers Flare as CA City Appoints Illegal Immigrants as Commissioner

That's a little better, but "immigrant" at its core implies legality, and those two individuals are not legal residents. They are illegal aliens.

Truth Revolt dispensed with "immigrant": 

Illegals Get City Appointments In LA Area

The Los Angeles Times reported:

Julian Zatarain always assumed the doors of City Hall were closed to him because he is here illegally, arriving from Sinaloa in 2007 when he was 13.

The 21-year-old college student found other outlets for service, such as volunteering for the Red Cross and with an organization that helps young people like him get access to educational resources.

Then on Monday, Zatarain proudly accepted an appointment to the Huntington Park parks and recreation commission. Another immigrant here illegally, Francisco Medina, 29, won an appointment to the health and education commission.

"I'm speaking out for people like me," Zatarain said. "I'm not doing anything wrong."

This statement is a flat-out lie. He does not live in this country with legal status. He is breaking the law, regardless of whatever circumstances led to his presence in the state of California and the country.

Their appointments mark a bold — and controversial — step by the small southeast Los Angeles County city to boost the participation of these immigrants in city government.

This decision is not bold, but brazen, and petty. This is a political stunt misusing local control and authority to undermine state and federal immigration laws, and cannot be condoned.

The working-class communities along the 710 Freeway have long been entry points for immigrants from Mexico and Latin America — a good portion arriving illegally.

Those arriving illegally are not immigrants. No city should serve as a sanctuary city for anyone but legal residents.

The demographics have resulted in much lower-than-average voter turnout, with some elections dropping below 10% in the last decade. In one election in Bell, only 2% of the voting-age population cast ballots; balloting in nearby South Gate brought out only 3%.

There is also the belief that the lack of civic engagement has helped foster the corruption that has plagued city halls across southeast L.A. County, most notably the Bell scandal over public officials' salaries that resulted in national headlines and multiple criminal convictions of top leaders.

The lack of civic engagement will not be fixed by further undermining the rule of law.

People who are in this country illegally cannot vote or seek elected office, but officials in Huntington Park said their status should not stop them from helping govern in other ways.

Yes it should. Who cares what the city council thinks? They are called to represent the citizens of their community and to serve the public according to the rule of law. 

"Our population includes documented and undocumented immigrants, and I wanted to make sure everyone could participate," Huntington Park Mayor Karina Macias said. "If we're going to talk about transparency, being open and having a community that's involved, then the conversation also has to include undocumented immigrants. I'm hoping other cities are looking at what we're doing here."

No it does not.

Macias said the city began accepting new applications for commission posts two months ago, and officials began wondering what would stop them from appointing people who are living in the country illegally.

State law does not prohibit people who are in the country illegally from serving as appointed commissioners.

Excuse me? The fact that those individuals reside in the country illegal serves as more than enough as a legal impediment to illegal aliens serving.

Both men are required to undergo full background checks. And unlike other city commissioners, Zatarain and Medina won't receive a monthly stipend, which generally ranges from $25 to $75.

"These two gentlemen have thousands of hours of volunteer work," said Jhonny Pineda, a Huntington Park councilman who formally appointed both men. "They are qualified but it just turns out they are undocumented."

They are undocumented i.e. illegal; therefore, they are not qualified.

Experts say the move reflects a growing effort in heavily Latino cities to push for more inclusion of people without legal status in public life. Several years ago, Maywood — which is next door to Huntington Park — made national headlines by declaring itself a "sanctuary" for those who are in the country illegally and repealed practices that some considered anti-immigrant.

Maywood does not exist as an incorporated city anymore. that region does not deserve any recognition for anything. Poor financial mismanagement and corruption brought that city down long ago. Aiding and abetting illegal immigration will not solve that problem.

"It's all about inclusion in civic engagement and also about using the resources a city has, and the No. 1 resource in any city are its people," said Fernando Guerra, a political science professor who also serves as director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.

The number resource of any city is its citizens. The erosion of law, citizenship, and legal status has no precedent compared to what the Huntington Park City Council has ventured to do with these unconstitutional appointments.

This inclusion is also occurring at the state level. California this year began issuing driver's licenses to people without legal status. This summer, the California Legislature passed a measure that provides healthcare to many immigrants who are in the country illegally.

Both of these policies are offensive. Governor Brown and the Democratic state legislature are turning California into a sanctuary state, but not for the citizens and legal residents. This is unconscionable.

The U.S. Census Bureau last month said Latinos are now the largest ethnic group in California. But Latinos still have lower income levels than whites, and many believe the low voter turnout is blunting their political influence.

The answer to low voter turnout requires educating citizens, not dumbing down citizenship.

Reaction to the appointments has been decidedly mixed inside and outside Huntington Park.

Linda Caraballo, a former councilwoman and resident of Huntington Park, said that while she doesn't oppose the people who are in the country illegally, she is against the appointments of the two men, fearing it would produce bad press for the city.

Bad news, Councilmember Caraballo -- the bad press has already hit the front pages.

"There are more qualified people," she said. "How could they be policy advisors if they can't even vote for the council members? This is just going to bring media attention, it's going to create national debate and it is something the city of Huntington Park doesn't need."

Exactly.

Robin Hvidston, executive director of We the People Rising, an immigration enforcement group in Claremont, said the appointments take two commission seats from U.S. citizens.

"To appoint commission seats to individuals who are breaking federal laws demonstrates that lack of respect for U.S. law," she said.

Bingo!

But others argued that it's important for immigrants to feel like they have a stake in how their communities are governed. When more people care about these issues, the chances of corruption are lessened, said Antonio Gonzalez, president of the William C. Velasquez Institute — a Latino-focused public policy and research organization.

The people who need to care about corruption are the citizens. Apparently, with the rising number of illegal aliens in the city of Huntington Park, the city council and its governing bodies have no reason to hold themselves accountable. The fact that they wish to indemnify illegal aliens so egregiously shows all the more their full contempt for good governance. The corruption is enhanced, all under the banner of trying to bring more people under the banner of "legal resident".

"The environment of where corruption flourishes is an environment where there is almost always a low level of scrutiny in monitoring and accountability and that is always characteristic of low level civic engagement," he said. "The participation in commissions is a logical and healthy step forward."

Part of the corruption lies in the fact that so many illegal aliens now live in the state of California, and neither the state nor federal government wants to enforce the rule of law. Now local governments are growing brazen and flouting the rule of law to promote a petty, narrow agenda.

Zatarain, who is attending Santa Monica College, said he chose the parks and recreation commission because he believes he can help the city provide better services for residents.

He said he first thought about getting involved in government after the city picked a new trash hauler and garbage started piling up on streets.

"I was upset," Zatarain said. "Why was my city dealing with this...? I came to realize, I wanted to get involved and help."

News flash, Zatarain: it is not your city, because you are not a citizen.

Final Reflection

The comment below reflects on the graver implications of this offensive move from the HP city council:

Respect for the law is going by the wayside in a California that is ruled by a politically correct obsessed, ultra liberal legislature. Why is it so difficult to require people wishing to live in the United States to do so legally? How much more of Sacramento's liberal laws can...

WESTCOASTTIGER

AT 12:31 AM AUGUST 12, 2015

The media show the diverse reactions to these illegal manuevers from the Huntington Park, CA city council. The political correctness which has taken over in the media cannot blunt the brutal fact that illegal aliens are actively breaking the law by living in the country without legal status. They should not be voting, they have no right or place to city on city councils or commissions, and frankly they should leave the country and enter legally.

There is no excuse for HP misusing their municipal authority and attempt to reshape immigration laws and legal status with this move to appoint illegal aliens to city commissions.

Please attend the next city council meeting, on August 17, and voice your concerns and protest this immoral and unconstitutional action.