Mayors: We’ll Take Child Migrants

Politico Magazine

By Kendall Breitman

July 15, 2014

Mayors: We’ll Take Child Migrants 

While some mayors are working to make sure their cities are not the next drop-off spot for the recent influx of undocumented children, mayors from Tampa and Los Angeles are arguing that welcoming immigration would have benefits for cities across the country.

“We’ve already talked to HHS,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, referring to the Department of Health and Human Services, said Tuesday at POLITICO Magazine’s “What Works LA” event in Los Angeles. “Before you get partisan and before you tell me where you are on immigration, these are children … let’s get them someplace safe and secure, let’s get them legal representation which is what this country has always stood for.”

Garcetti joined panelists Helene Schneider, the mayor of Santa Barbara, California, and Bob Buckhorn, the mayor of Tampa, Florida, to discuss urban development and the politics of inequality with POLITICO’s Alex Burns.

Garcetti cited statistics that say 62 percent of Los Angeles residents are immigrants or children of immigrants, which he claims allows his city to have “a competitive advantage in the world.”

“Our competitive strength will come from being able to integrate immigrants that aren’t going anywhere, that need to be earning scholarships, paying more taxes, having drivers licenses; we can only gain from that,” Garcetti said. “The status quo as it is is broken and costs us a lot of money.”

His opinions on the benefits of welcoming immigrants into urban communities was echoed by Buckhorn.

“We are far more competitive as a community when we look like the world,” Buckhorn said. “I don’t want to be the mayor of some white-bread Southern city. As a community, when we’re out there competing for business, global business, the fact that our city [was founded by immigrants] makes us a lot more competitive because we look like the world.”

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti urges compassion on border crisis.

Buckhorn commented on the multiple languages and ethnicity within the Florida city and added, “I want my kids to grow up in a city where not only everyone’s inherent value is recognized and honored, but that we recognize and honor that we live in a global community and we’re not just competing against Charlotte, North Carolina, we’re competing with Mumbai, we’re competing with Bogota, Colombia, and it’s our advantage to do that and to encourage immigration.”

Buckhorn was asked about politics and whether Democrats should look to big-city mayors for the next vice presidential spot.

“Yes, and I think Mayor Garcetti would be a great choice,” Buckhorn said.

Garcetti responded, “I’m not interested in being vice president. Thank you for the acceleration, but I want to fix some things here first.”

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