Miami-Dade is the first county in Florida to pass a resolution in support of President Obama’s Executive Action on Immigration
MIAMI – On Tuesday, June 2nd, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution expressing its support for President Obama’s executive action on immigration through DAPA and the expanded DACA. In the resolution, the County Commission “urges Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to withdraw the State of Florida from Texas vs. United States” the lawsuit that is temporarily blocking both immigration relief programs.
The resolution was sponsored by Commission Chairman Jean Monestime and co-sponsored by Commissioners Daniella Levine Cava and Sally Heyman.
“Our County has benefitted culturally and economically from hardworking immigrant families including many of our own families, and we want to honor that,” Chairman Monestime said. “We must not turn our backs on the long-standing members of our community whose children were born here.”
Miami-Dade is the first county to pass a resolution in support of Obama’s executive action on immigration, although a number of Florida cities have passed similar resolutions. In April, North Miami and Tampa signed an Amicus Brief in support of Administrative Relief for millions of immigrant families. The city of Kissimmee passed a similar resolution shortly after.
DAPA (Deferred Action for Parental Accountability) and the expansion of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) had the goal of stopping the deportation of parents of U.S. citizens and Permanent Residents, or of immigrants who came to the country at a young age. Together, these programs could potentially benefit approximately 253,000 Floridians and were expected during the first semester of 2015, but have been temporarily blocked by a lawsuit signed by 26 states including Florida. 55,000 of the potential beneficiaries live in Miami-Dade alone.
“We thank the Commissioners for supporting immigrant families and recognizing our contributions to Florida’s economy, and we expect that other counties will follow the leadership demonstrated by Miami-Dade Commissioners,” says Francesca Menes, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator for the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “Attorney General Pam Bondi is on the wrong side of history and out of touch with Florida’s families; we urge her to drop this lawsuit that breaks up our homes and squanders our taxes.”
The Florida Immigrant Coalition and its members invite Floridians from all over the state to call and email local elected officials in other counties and cities, asking them to pass similar resolutions.
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