Los Angeles Times (California)
By Tony Perry
October 16, 2014
Amid
passionate disagreements among residents, the Escondido City Council
voted Wednesday night to reject a proposed 96-bed shelter for children
who enter the U.S. without
documentation and are not accompanied by an adult.
The
ACLU had appealed the city planning commission's unanimous rejection in
August of the proposal by Southwest Key, a federal government
contractor that runs shelters
in dozens of locations across the U.S.
The
company had requested permission to remodel a closed nursing home to
accommodate the children. But the council voted, 4-1, to uphold the
rejection, citing the same
reasons as the planning commission: potential problems with traffic,
safety and parking, as well as concerns that a shelter would be
"incompatible" with a residential neighborhood.
The volatile issue arose this summer as thousands of children were caught illegally crossing the U.S. border, mostly in Texas.
The
majority of the 100-plus residents who packed City Council chambers
were strongly opposed to the shelter proposal, but some said the
council's action was based not
on compatibility concerns, but on opposition to having additional
immigrants in the inland San Diego County suburb, 40 miles north of San
Diego.
There
was also resentment aimed at the ACLU for its involvement in what
residents saw as a local planning issue. The ACLU has tussled with
Escondido officials in the past
over issues linked to immigration.
Mayor Sam Abed said the ACLU had a history of hostility toward Escondido, but council members "are not going to be intimidated."
Councilwoman Olga Diaz was the lone vote in favor of the shelter proposal, which would be funded by the federal government.
"I may lose an election, but I will not lose my humanity," she said.
Diaz is running for mayor against Abed.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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