February
6,
2024
Huntington
Beach
City
Council
2000
Main
Street
Huntington
Beach,
CA
92648
Re:
Agenda
Item
#14
-
Statement
of
Solidarity
with
Texas,
submitted
by
Mayor
Pro
Tem
Burns
Dear
Members
of
the
Huntington
Beach
City
Council,
We
write
in
strong
opposition
to
agenda
item
#14,
the
proposed
“statement
of
solidarity”
with
Gov.
Greg
Abbott’s
administration
in
Texas
and
his
racist,
anti-immigrant
crusade.
Basic
human
decency
requires
that
all
people
be
respectful
and
courteous
to
their
neighbors.
The
proposed
statement
would
demonstrate
the
Council’s
inability
to
be
good
neighbors
to
the
communities
that
border
Huntington
Beach
with
large
immigrant
and
refugee
populations.
These
include
Costa
Mesa
and
the
communities
of
Little
Saigon,
which
are
home
to
numerous
immigrant
and
refugee
residents,
at
least
50,000
of
whom
are
not
naturalized.
1 The
insinuation
that
our
immigrant
and
refugee
community
members
neighbors
embody
“the
destruction
of
the
United
States”
is
not
only
offensive
and
false,
but
also
advances
no
tangible
improvements
to
the
lives
of
Huntington
Beach’s
residents.
Using
the
Council
dias
as
a
bully
pulpit
to
spew
vitriolic
rhetoric
does
nothing
to
house
those
without
roofs
over
their
heads,
ensure
workers
can
afford
rent,
or
improve
shared
community
spaces
for
everyone
to
enjoy.
The
“rogue
bully”
in
this
situation
is
not
those
who
would
seek
to
make
our
neighborhoods
more
welcoming
and
prosperous
for
all,
but
rather
the
Huntington
Beach
City
Council,
should
its
members
choose
to
support
agenda
item
#14.
We
hope
that
members
of
the
Council
can
instead
focus
on
the
task
of
governing
with
decency
and
sound
judgment,
as
the
residents
of
Huntington
Beach
and
Orange
County
deserve.
Sincerely,
Mai
Nguyen
Do
Research
&
Policy
Manager
Harbor
Institute
for
Immigrant
&
Economic
Justice
1 Derived
from
U.S.
Census
Bureau
American
Community
Survey,
2022
5-Year
Estimates.