Author: mloera@ndlon.org

Orange County, CA – On Monday, September 11, 14 Orange County elected officials sent a letter to State Senators Tom Umberg, Josh Newman, and Dave Min urging them to vote yes on AB 1306 – the HOME Act (Harmonizing Our Measures for Equality Act). The HOME Act would prevent the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from transferring to federal immigration authorities individuals who have earned release through existing reforms already enacted by the state legislature, including those that allow for elder parole, medical parole and clemency actions by the Governor. 

“It is imperative that as Orange County elected officials, we unequivocally reject the resurgence of Trumpian scapegoating rhetoric and firmly support efforts to end harmful policies of double punishment,” the elected officials state in the letter sent to the Senators on Monday. “By ensuring immigrants and refugees who have earned release under existing reforms are truly able to return to their communities and rebuild their lives, we can further our commitments to upholding our shared values of fairness and equality.”

The HOME Act would ensure that immigrant Californians, including many Orange County community members, who earn release from state prison under existing criminal justice laws can come home instead of being double punished and cruelly transferred to ICE where they experience indefinite detention and, oftentimes, permanent separation from their families and communities. 

As a call to action, the undersigned elected officials call on Orange County’s state senators to reaffirm their commitments to equal justice for all, including immigrants and refugees, by voting to pass the HOME Act.

The HOME Act is supported by the Democratic Party of Orange County, the Santa Ana City Council, and over 100 faith, civil rights and community-based organizations across the state.