Council to send letter to Bush

COSTA MESA — City Council members will send a letter urging President Bush to enforce existing immigration laws and reject a Senate bill that would offer some illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

The letter, drafted by Councilman Eric Bever, is the second the council has sent the White House on the issue. Council members in May 2005 approved a similar letter asking for more border security, but it apparently did not generate a response.

On Tuesday, the council voted 3-2 to send the letter, with Councilwomen Linda Dixon and Katrina Foley dissenting.

"My concern is that the president is walking away from his duty and hasn't been enforcing the existing laws," Bever said. "My belief is that before we do any of the 280-plus things that SB [Senate Bill] 1348 would do that we secure the border."

Whenever Costa Mesa officials step into the immigration debate, it usually draws crowds to the council meetings. Tuesday didn't quite fall into that pattern, but several speakers criticized the council for the message the letter is sending.

"I'm just here to say this letter does not represent me or my experience living here," said Gabriela Trujillo, a 30-year resident of Costa Mesa. "It's caused the city to be divided to the point that I'm embarrassed and ashamed to live here."

In the online world, reactions were more mixed. Comments on the Daily Pilot's website about the letter ranged from one poster's criticism that council members "need to start focusing on the real issues that can create positive change and stop using this issue as a scapegoat" to another's laudatory remark that "every city in the nation should send a letter just like this one."

While a response to Costa Mesa's letter from Bush may not be forthcoming, Mayor Allan Mansoor said before the meeting that his goal is something else.

"I hope it encourages members of the public to speak up because this is a serious issue that will impact us all," he said.

Foley, who declined to sign the 2005 letter also, said she had asked for changes to that missive, but other council members refused to make them, and it later became moot because Congress approved more funding for border security.

As to Bever's letter, she said earlier Tuesday, "I think that it's premature for us to send this letter. We don't know what the [immigration reform] bill says. I think we should focus our efforts on local matters — parks, street improvements and supporting our police and fire."

The letter will also go to Costa Mesa state and federal elected officials.