In late April, The Jewish Federation’s Community Engagement Strategic Initiative hosted Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Director of the USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics Dan Schnur, former State Assemblyman Hector de la Torre, and California Republican Party strategist Mike Madrid for a bipartisan discussion on immigration reform. The event was organized by three recent graduates of our Federation’s New Leaders Project (NLP)—Julie Munjack, Jeremy Rawitch, and Jesse Gabriel — and was jointly sponsored by USC’s Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics.
This discussion was quite timely, as it came on the heels of the unveiling of proposed legislation for Federal immigration reform by the “Gang of Eight” in Washington D.C., comprised of eight leaders within the United States Congress who have championed the bill which is currently being debated in the Senate. Specifically, the Gang of Eight includes the leaders of each of the two parties from both the Senate and House of Representatives, and the chairs and ranking minority members of both the Senate Committee and House Committee for Intelligence. Key provisions to the bill
address border security, a pathway to citizenship, and cracking down on employers hiring undocumented workers. In the context of the legislation, both ground-breaking and controversial, our Federation hosted a truly important event.
While all of our speakers were in support of immigration reform in principle, Mayor Villaraigosa also shared his own experiences as Mayor of a city with a large immigrant population. He explained how Democrats and Republicans might view the details of the bill from different perspectives, and that he hoped the legislation, even if “watered down,” would be a step in the right direction and could be re-addressed in a few years to be amended depending on who was sitting in Congress. One interesting part of the evening was the discussion about how the Republican Party might be using support of the immigration reform as a platform to gain votes among the immigrant community. Though their efforts are now beginning, the speakers felt that the effects wouldn’t be felt for the next 6-8 years, i.e. past the terms of those members of Congress who would be seeking re-election. Our speakers also discussed the potential economic aspects of changing our immigration policies, including the benefit of having a larger tax base that would help bolster the long-term viability of our social security system and general economic stability.
Our goal, to help our community gain a better understanding of the ongoing debate surrounding comprehensive immigration reform, reflects Community Engagement’s values as well. We believe that it is important to bring together people of diverse opinions to explore timely issues in a civil and constructive manner. We are thankful for the training we received from New Leaders Project, which enabled us to host four of Southern California’s foremost experts on politics and public policy. We had a great time organizing the event, and it was gratifying to have so many community members join us for an interesting and informative conversation.
Rather than take sides in a very divisive and complicated policy area, The Jewish Federation’s Community Engagement Initiative focuses on creating community, building a better city and state, and creating lasting relationships across beliefs.
If you would like to learn more about the immigration proposals, please check out these resources:
- The White House
We’d like to hear what our community has to say. What is your opinion of the proposed legislation on immigration reform?
