Immigration Policy to Take Center Stage in RivCo

Supervisors to Introduce Measures to Protect Immigrant Residents Under President Trump’s Immigration Policy

RIVERSIDE – A pair of Riverside County Supervisors are proposing steps to protect immigrant residents, the local community and its economic well-being from the threat of raids and mass deportations, they say.

Supervisors V. Manuel Perez and Yxstian Gutierrez will present a set of measures at the Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Tuesday that take additional steps to advocate for and assist immigrant residents.

The Supervisors will seek the creation of a Web page on immigrant rights and resources, to provide information for residents to be informed while helping combat misinformation. They are also requesting a report due back next month on how data is protected and the potential of funding to support law-abiding undocumented immigrants facing deportation proceedings.

“What President Trump has said about immigrants during his campaign and what he plans to do and is already doing in office with extreme policies is just wrong,” Perez said in a statement. “Immigrants are not the problem. This is an issue that is important morally and it links to our communities and economy. Working with my colleagues, I want to speak out for immigrant rights and dignity and lead the charge.”

The Supervisors’ immigration policy item will build off of Riverside County’s past support of comprehensive immigration reform and support of Dreamers, according to a statement from Perez’s offfice,

“Nearly a quarter of our county’s population are immigrants, all who came with a belief in the American dream. Like my family of immigrants, they work hard in their jobs, attend our churches, schools, and community events, and remind us of the beauty of our culturally diverse community,” said Supervisor Yxstian Gutierrez.

The policy item can be found on Tuesday’s Riverside County Board of Supervisors agenda at: https://riversidecountyca.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=3167.

Perez represents the Fourth Supervisorial District on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. The largest district in the county by geography, the 4th District covers eastern Riverside County, from Whitewater, stretching across the entire Coachella Valley south to the Salton Sea, up Highway 74 to Idyllwild and the mountain communities, and heading east of the Coachella Valley to Blythe and the Colorado River.