Comprehensive Immigration Reform is Not Amnesty | US News and World Report  Immigration reform will be a priority in Washington, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is hoping to shape the conversation. This week, Villaraigosa announced a six-point plan, which includes a path to citizenship, family reunification, and smarter border enforcement. The California Democrat recently spoke with U.S. News about the urgency of immigration reform and the details of his proposal.  LA City Council Backs Assault Weapon Ban | Daily News Joining with cities across the country following the shooting tragedy in Newtown, Conn., the Los Angeles City Council called Tuesday for tougher state and federal gun control laws, including a ban on the sale of assault weapons. Three separate measures from Councilmen Bernard Parks, Paul Koretz and Dennis Zine that were approved on 12-0 votes called for city lobbyists to inform state and federal officials that the city is backing the tough sales provisions. Metro to Run More Frequent Gold Line Trains Starting this Month | BlogDowntown Metro will begin running weekend Gold Line trains more frequently starting at the end of this month. The 19.7-mile light-rail line that operates between Pasadena, East Los Angeles and Downtown will begin running every six minutes instead of every 12. The schedule change, which will begin on January 27, will apply to Saturday and Sunday trains between the hours of approximately 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Grand Park Inauguration Party: “Hail to the Chiefs” Celebration Screens Obama’s Big Day | Huffington Post For those not invited to the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the next best thing might have been playing Frisbee barefoot in a downtown park and listening to a singer rap Obama’s inauguration speech.As hundreds of thousands gathered on the Washington, D.C., mall to watch Obama’s swearing-in, across the country, a decidedly smaller crowd celebrated at the Grand Park near City Hall.
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Comprehensive Immigration Reform is Not Amnesty | US News and World Report 

Immigration reform will be a priority in Washington, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is hoping to shape the conversation. This week, Villaraigosa announced a six-point plan, which includes a path to citizenship, family reunification, and smarter border enforcement. The California Democrat recently spoke with U.S. News about the urgency of immigration reform and the details of his proposal. 

LA City Council Backs Assault Weapon Ban | Daily News

Joining with cities across the country following the shooting tragedy in Newtown, Conn., the Los Angeles City Council called Tuesday for tougher state and federal gun control laws, including a ban on the sale of assault weapons. Three separate measures from Councilmen Bernard Parks, Paul Koretz and Dennis Zine that were approved on 12-0 votes called for city lobbyists to inform state and federal officials that the city is backing the tough sales provisions.

Metro to Run More Frequent Gold Line Trains Starting this Month | BlogDowntown

Metro will begin running weekend Gold Line trains more frequently starting at the end of this month. The 19.7-mile light-rail line that operates between Pasadena, East Los Angeles and Downtown will begin running every six minutes instead of every 12. The schedule change, which will begin on January 27, will apply to Saturday and Sunday trains between the hours of approximately 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Grand Park Inauguration Party: “Hail to the Chiefs” Celebration Screens Obama’s Big Day | Huffington Post

For those not invited to the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the next best thing might have been playing Frisbee barefoot in a downtown park and listening to a singer rap Obama’s inauguration speech.As hundreds of thousands gathered on the Washington, D.C., mall to watch Obama’s swearing-in, across the country, a decidedly smaller crowd celebrated at the Grand Park near City Hall.

Villaraigosa Seeks to End Investment in Weapons Makers | LA Times Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said that he has asked the city’s three pension funds to review all investments and work to end those in companies that manufacture assault weapons. “It’s a moral and financial imperative to end our relationship with these companies,” said the mayor, who added that it was unclear how much pension money was invested in weapons makers. “I don’t want to make a quarter, not a penny, not a dime off of companies that make those weapons of war,” he later added. Villaraigosa Calls for Higher Educational Standard s for Black, Brown Children | NBC Latino Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made an impassioned plea for addressing educational disparities among Hispanic and African-American children Sunday, saying the nation owed as much to the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Villaraigosa talked about his own efforts to reform the schools in the Watts and East Los Angeles neighborhoods in his city, saying “we went from 33 percent failing schools to 10 percent, by saying those kids were worth it.” He cited statistics showing considerably higher drop-out rates among Hispanic and African-American children as a crisis the nation must address, not just for economic reasons, but as a matter of “national security.” Compton Gun Buyback Monday is Effort to Take FIrearms off Streets | KPCC There was an extra drive-through in the parking lot of Compton’s Towne Center shopping mall on Monday: A gun buyback program. Car after car pulled into the lot, with rifles, handguns, shotguns, and in some cases assault rifles packed into their trunks. And car by car, deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sorted through the firearms, made sure they were disabled, and sent drivers on their way with gift certificates for Target and Ralph’s. Graduation Rate Highest Since 1976 | Politico  The nation’s high school graduation rate is the highest since 1976, but more than a fifth of students are still failing to get their diploma in four years, the Education Department said in a study released Tuesday. Officials said the steady rise of students completing their education is a reflection of the struggling economy and a greater competition for new jobs. 
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Villaraigosa Seeks to End Investment in Weapons Makers | LA Times

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said that he has asked the city’s three pension funds to review all investments and work to end those in companies that manufacture assault weapons. “It’s a moral and financial imperative to end our relationship with these companies,” said the mayor, who added that it was unclear how much pension money was invested in weapons makers. “I don’t want to make a quarter, not a penny, not a dime off of companies that make those weapons of war,” he later added.

Villaraigosa Calls for Higher Educational Standard s for Black, Brown Children | NBC Latino

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made an impassioned plea for addressing educational disparities among Hispanic and African-American children Sunday, saying the nation owed as much to the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Villaraigosa talked about his own efforts to reform the schools in the Watts and East Los Angeles neighborhoods in his city, saying “we went from 33 percent failing schools to 10 percent, by saying those kids were worth it.” He cited statistics showing considerably higher drop-out rates among Hispanic and African-American children as a crisis the nation must address, not just for economic reasons, but as a matter of “national security.”

Compton Gun Buyback Monday is Effort to Take FIrearms off Streets | KPCC

There was an extra drive-through in the parking lot of Compton’s Towne Center shopping mall on Monday: A gun buyback program. Car after car pulled into the lot, with rifles, handguns, shotguns, and in some cases assault rifles packed into their trunks. And car by car, deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sorted through the firearms, made sure they were disabled, and sent drivers on their way with gift certificates for Target and Ralph’s.

Graduation Rate Highest Since 1976 | Politico 

The nation’s high school graduation rate is the highest since 1976, but more than a fifth of students are still failing to get their diploma in four years, the Education Department said in a study released Tuesday.

Officials said the steady rise of students completing their education is a reflection of the struggling economy and a greater competition for new jobs. 

Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayors Against Illegal Guns Band Together to Support Obama’s Gun Control Laws | Huffington Post Mayors in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, San Bernardino and a number of other Southern California cities on Wednesday joined in support of President Barack Obama’s call for Congress to adopt the most sweeping gun control measures in more than 20 years, including increased background checks and bans on assault weapons and large ammunition clips. Parents Invoke Trigger to Shake Up Failing LA Unified School | KPCC Hundreds of parents from a West Adams elementary school on Thursday invoked the “Parent Trigger” law to take over the failing 24th Street Elementary school. It’s the first attempt to use the controversial law in L.A. Unified since it was passed in 2010 — and could mark a turning point for parent-reform advocates. Amabilia Villeda, the leader of the Padres de 24 Parent Union leading the effort, handed Superintendent John Deasy some of the signatures she’d been gathering over the last nine months in a door-to-door campaign. “I hope now you’ll hear us,” she said. City Council Looks into Framework, Feasibility of “Homeless Donation Meters” | Blogdowntown These meters would be created from L.A.’s discarded parking meters — the ones with the coin slots that the City has worked to replace with new, credit-card friendly machines. These donation meters would be specially marked and people could deposit their spare change in the machine when they walked by. The proceeds would then be donated to homeless services in the city. As of now, the details of how the program would work are undetermined. The meters are under the control of the LADOT, so the city council has merely asked them for a report on how this program could be implemented. Alliance of Big City School Districts Aim for More Healthful Meals | LA Times L.A. Unified and five others are striving to make wholesome food a national standard. They’re working on biodegradable trays and utensils as well. Each district has been assigned a specific project. Green Dot to Reorganize Locke High School | LA Times In a move to address slumping academic performance of incoming ninth-grade students, charter school operator Green Dot Public School is proposing to reorganize Locke High School in Watts. The Locke campus is split into five small schools. Rather than dividing the ninth-grade students among the five, most new freshmen will be placed in a single academy on the campus. One of the schools, Animo Watts, will continue to serve ninth through 12th grade. There will be three 10th-12th-grade academies and the charter group wants to open a new middle school in the area to better prepare incoming students, Green Dot announced Thursday.
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Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayors Against Illegal Guns Band Together to Support Obama’s Gun Control Laws | Huffington Post

Mayors in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, San Bernardino and a number of other Southern California cities on Wednesday joined in support of President Barack Obama’s call for Congress to adopt the most sweeping gun control measures in more than 20 years, including increased background checks and bans on assault weapons and large ammunition clips.

Parents Invoke Trigger to Shake Up Failing LA Unified School | KPCC

Hundreds of parents from a West Adams elementary school on Thursday invoked the “Parent Trigger” law to take over the failing 24th Street Elementary school. It’s the first attempt to use the controversial law in L.A. Unified since it was passed in 2010 — and could mark a turning point for parent-reform advocates. Amabilia Villeda, the leader of the Padres de 24 Parent Union leading the effort, handed Superintendent John Deasy some of the signatures she’d been gathering over the last nine months in a door-to-door campaign. “I hope now you’ll hear us,” she said.

City Council Looks into Framework, Feasibility of “Homeless Donation Meters” | Blogdowntown

These meters would be created from L.A.’s discarded parking meters — the ones with the coin slots that the City has worked to replace with new, credit-card friendly machines. These donation meters would be specially marked and people could deposit their spare change in the machine when they walked by. The proceeds would then be donated to homeless services in the city. As of now, the details of how the program would work are undetermined. The meters are under the control of the LADOT, so the city council has merely asked them for a report on how this program could be implemented.

Alliance of Big City School Districts Aim for More Healthful Meals | LA Times

L.A. Unified and five others are striving to make wholesome food a national standard. They’re working on biodegradable trays and utensils as well. Each district has been assigned a specific project.

Green Dot to Reorganize Locke High School | LA Times

In a move to address slumping academic performance of incoming ninth-grade students, charter school operator Green Dot Public School is proposing to reorganize Locke High School in Watts. The Locke campus is split into five small schools. Rather than dividing the ninth-grade students among the five, most new freshmen will be placed in a single academy on the campus. One of the schools, Animo Watts, will continue to serve ninth through 12th grade. There will be three 10th-12th-grade academies and the charter group wants to open a new middle school in the area to better prepare incoming students, Green Dot announced Thursday.

“The time is NOW for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, and it cannot be achieved without strong support from the business community. There are countless studies that demonstrate that sensible immigration reform will boost our economy and help reduce the deficit. Some studies estimate that these workers will strengthen our economy by adding $1.5 trillion to our national GDP in the first ten years.” AV
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“The time is NOW for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, and it cannot be achieved without strong support from the business community. There are countless studies that demonstrate that sensible immigration reform will boost our economy and help reduce the deficit. Some studies estimate that these workers will strengthen our economy by adding $1.5 trillion to our national GDP in the first ten years.” AV

LA Pension Boards Asked to End Investments in Assault Gun Firms | LA Times Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday that he has asked the city’s three pension funds to review all investments and work to end those in companies that manufacture assault weapons. Invoking the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that left 27 dead in Newtown, Conn., last month, Villaraigosa said it was inappropriate for the city to make money off weapons manufacturers. DTLA Developments Contribute to LA’s Record-Breaking Tourism Year | BlogDowntown Los Angeles attracted a record 41.4 million visitors in 2012 — a 2.5 percent increase over the 40.4 million visitors that came to L.A. in 2011. According to a report from the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, direct visitor spending, hotel occupancy and hotel room nights sold set all-time highs last year as well. “When the LA tourism industry thrives, Los Angeles thrives,” said Mayor Villaraigosa in a statement. “The tourism industry supports one in 10 jobs in LA and the revenues that come from its success go directly to the city services Angelenos rely on.” 7 Key Points from Obama’s Gun Proposal | The Daily Beast Last month, President Obama assigned Vice President Joe Biden to head up a task force aimed at crafting a list of recommended actions—for both the president and Congress—to crack down on gun violence. On Wednesday, the two men held their much-anticipated press conference, revealing some of those proposals before Obama sat down to sign them. In Gun Debate, Hollywood Needs “Transparency, Not Censorship” | NBC 4 Los Angeles is hosting a vibrant discussion over guns including violence in Hollywood movies and whether city funds should be divested from companies that make fire arms.
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LA Pension Boards Asked to End Investments in Assault Gun Firms | LA Times

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday that he has asked the city’s three pension funds to review all investments and work to end those in companies that manufacture assault weapons. Invoking the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that left 27 dead in Newtown, Conn., last month, Villaraigosa said it was inappropriate for the city to make money off weapons manufacturers.

DTLA Developments Contribute to LA’s Record-Breaking Tourism Year | BlogDowntown

Los Angeles attracted a record 41.4 million visitors in 2012 — a 2.5 percent increase over the 40.4 million visitors that came to L.A. in 2011. According to a report from the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, direct visitor spending, hotel occupancy and hotel room nights sold set all-time highs last year as well. “When the LA tourism industry thrives, Los Angeles thrives,” said Mayor Villaraigosa in a statement. “The tourism industry supports one in 10 jobs in LA and the revenues that come from its success go directly to the city services Angelenos rely on.”

7 Key Points from Obama’s Gun Proposal | The Daily Beast

Last month, President Obama assigned Vice President Joe Biden to head up a task force aimed at crafting a list of recommended actions—for both the president and Congress—to crack down on gun violence. On Wednesday, the two men held their much-anticipated press conference, revealing some of those proposals before Obama sat down to sign them.

In Gun Debate, Hollywood Needs “Transparency, Not Censorship” | NBC 4

Los Angeles is hosting a vibrant discussion over guns including violence in Hollywood movies and whether city funds should be divested from companies that make fire arms.

LAUSD’s Crenshaw High to Become 3 Magnet Schools | KPCC L.A. Unified voted Tuesday to revamp Crenshaw High School – one of the worst performing schools in the district. But the plan has some parents and teachers up in arms. Crenshaw’s 1,500 students will be split into three separate magnet schools. While officials are still working out the details, they told parents last month that the magnet programs are likely to focus on the arts, business and science, and technology, engineering and math. President Obama to Demand New Sweeping Restrictions on Firearms | The Hill President Obama on Wednesday will demand sweeping new gun restrictions — including a proposed ban on assault weapons — that herald a fierce battle with gun-rights advocates on Capitol Hill. The package will also include a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines and expanded background checks for gun buyers, the White House announced Tuesday. The proposals will be unveiled at an 11:45 a.m. event attended by pro-gun-reform lawmakers and interest groups. LA Councilman Seeks Ban on Ammo for High-Capacity Magazines | LA Times Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian wants the city to explore the feasibility of banning the possession of ammunition for high-capacity gun magazines, the first step toward instituting stricter city gun and ammunition laws. Although the California penal code now prohibits the manufacture and sale of magazines that hold more than 10 bullets, Krekorian said in a council motion Tuesday that a ban on the possession of the magazines within city limits could further improve public safety. Century Plaza’s Two-Tower Makeover is a Go in Century City | Curbed LA The towers—a late-in-the-game addition to prevent demolition of the Minoru Yamasaki-designed hotel—will each be 46 stories and have a combined 290 units. The compromise that saved the hotel was so successful that the project “received universal support with no public opposition,” according to a press release. Two more tall towers in Century City is pretty interesting, but the most compelling part of this project is the public space (Rios Clementi Hale is the landscape architect), which will extend out to Avenue of the Stars in an attempt to make notoriously-un-pedestrian-friendly CC a little more pedestrian-friendly. 
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LAUSD’s Crenshaw High to Become 3 Magnet Schools | KPCC

L.A. Unified voted Tuesday to revamp Crenshaw High School – one of the worst performing schools in the district. But the plan has some parents and teachers up in arms. Crenshaw’s 1,500 students will be split into three separate magnet schools. While officials are still working out the details, they told parents last month that the magnet programs are likely to focus on the arts, business and science, and technology, engineering and math.

President Obama to Demand New Sweeping Restrictions on Firearms | The Hill

President Obama on Wednesday will demand sweeping new gun restrictions — including a proposed ban on assault weapons — that herald a fierce battle with gun-rights advocates on Capitol Hill. The package will also include a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines and expanded background checks for gun buyers, the White House announced Tuesday. The proposals will be unveiled at an 11:45 a.m. event attended by pro-gun-reform lawmakers and interest groups.

LA Councilman Seeks Ban on Ammo for High-Capacity Magazines | LA Times

Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian wants the city to explore the feasibility of banning the possession of ammunition for high-capacity gun magazines, the first step toward instituting stricter city gun and ammunition laws. Although the California penal code now prohibits the manufacture and sale of magazines that hold more than 10 bullets, Krekorian said in a council motion Tuesday that a ban on the possession of the magazines within city limits could further improve public safety.

Century Plaza’s Two-Tower Makeover is a Go in Century City | Curbed LA

The towers—a late-in-the-game addition to prevent demolition of the Minoru Yamasaki-designed hotel—will each be 46 stories and have a combined 290 units. The compromise that saved the hotel was so successful that the project “received universal support with no public opposition,” according to a press release. Two more tall towers in Century City is pretty interesting, but the most compelling part of this project is the public space (Rios Clementi Hale is the landscape architect), which will extend out to Avenue of the Stars in an attempt to make notoriously-un-pedestrian-friendly CC a little more pedestrian-friendly. 

LA Mayor Villaraigosa Pushes Immigration Changes | Miami Herald Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, fresh off an aggressive effort to get President Barack Obama re-elected, strode into Washington this week to champion an immigration overhaul. The issue is vitally important to California , with the nation’s largest number of illegal immigrants and whose agriculture industry relies heavily on the state’s immigrant population. Los Angeles Attracts Record Number of Tourists in 2012 | LA Times Los Angeles enjoyed another banner year for tourism in 2012, when it welcomed 41.4 million visitors, surpassing the record set in 2011. Last year’s tourist total represents a 2.5% increase over the 40.4 million visitors in 2011 — good news for the city’s $16.5-billion tourism industry, according to the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. Tourism is one of the region’s largest industries, supporting 372,000 jobs in Los Angeles County. CicLAvia 2013: Routes to Venice Beach, Wilshire/Fairfax, Extended “Classic Route” | LA Streetsblog On April 21, CicLAvia will head west from Downtown Los Angeles all the way to Venice Beach. While Paley wouldn’t get into the details of the route, in an email to West Los Angeles stakeholders he outlined the basics. The route will utilize “Venice Boulevard from Figueroa to the Beach,” creating a straight shot that will allow Westsiders easy access to explore Downtown and Downtown cyclists a dream ride to Venice Beach. 2013 Detroit Auto Show’s New Cars and Concepts | CBS LA The North American International Auto Show, the Detroit Auto Show to most folk, is arguably the most important event on the automotive calendar in the U.S. It’s also the place where the global automotive community comes together for the first time each year, all hoping to find out what the major automakers have in store for us over the next 12 months.
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LA Mayor Villaraigosa Pushes Immigration Changes | Miami Herald

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, fresh off an aggressive effort to get President Barack Obama re-elected, strode into Washington this week to champion an immigration overhaul. The issue is vitally important to California , with the nation’s largest number of illegal immigrants and whose agriculture industry relies heavily on the state’s immigrant population.

Los Angeles Attracts Record Number of Tourists in 2012 | LA Times

Los Angeles enjoyed another banner year for tourism in 2012, when it welcomed 41.4 million visitors, surpassing the record set in 2011. Last year’s tourist total represents a 2.5% increase over the 40.4 million visitors in 2011 — good news for the city’s $16.5-billion tourism industry, according to the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. Tourism is one of the region’s largest industries, supporting 372,000 jobs in Los Angeles County.

CicLAvia 2013: Routes to Venice Beach, Wilshire/Fairfax, Extended “Classic Route” | LA Streetsblog

On April 21, CicLAvia will head west from Downtown Los Angeles all the way to Venice Beach. While Paley wouldn’t get into the details of the route, in an email to West Los Angeles stakeholders he outlined the basics. The route will utilize “Venice Boulevard from Figueroa to the Beach,” creating a straight shot that will allow Westsiders easy access to explore Downtown and Downtown cyclists a dream ride to Venice Beach.

2013 Detroit Auto Show’s New Cars and Concepts | CBS LA

The North American International Auto Show, the Detroit Auto Show to most folk, is arguably the most important event on the automotive calendar in the U.S. It’s also the place where the global automotive community comes together for the first time each year, all hoping to find out what the major automakers have in store for us over the next 12 months.

A Full Embrace, not Half a Handshake: Now is the Time for Real Immigration Reform - Speech to the National Press Club Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. I am truly honored to be here at one of our country’s most venerable institutions of public deliberation. In less than six months, my final term as Mayor of Los Angeles will come to a close. With each passing week, I take another step toward what one wit called, “The transition from Who’s Who to Who’s He?” The sun may be setting on my administration, but I am not riding off into the sunset just yet. The agenda is still packed with challenges. Many pressing issues still demand action. And chief among them is immigration reform. There are few more fundamental questions that we face. Who we welcome to our shores… How we secure our borders… What we do to include the millions of undocumented men and women who work hard and do the hardest work… And how we keep them safely together with their five million citizen children. These questions go straight to the heart of who we are as a people. At stake are bedrock rights and responsibilities of American democracy. They fuel strong passions on all sides. Ladies and gentlemen, it is high time we gave clear and consistent answers to these most basic questions. Now is the time for real immigration reform. Comprehensive reform…Common sense reform…Humane reform. Reform that is cemented by our most sacred values… Reform that serves our country, bolsters our economy and respects the immigrants who risk so much to come here in search of nothing less and nothing more than a better life. This cause strikes a deeply personal chord for me. It is at the heart of one of my proudest moments…as an elected official…as an Angeleno…as a human being. In March 2006, one million people marched to the Los Angeles City Hall. On that historic day, one million people threw off the yoke of suspicion and fear and stepped out of the shadows. Moms and dads…Kids…Grandmas and grandpas… People who worked hard…who were humble…but who were tired of being scapegoated… Tired of hearing the catcalls that they were the cause of all the country’s problems… Tired of being told to go home…to go back where they came from. They marched because they had a message. They were home and they weren’t going anywhere. And they wanted a response… From me, from the alcalde. Some said, “Don’t do it.”  “You’ve been in office less than a year.”  “Your job is to fix the potholes. Leave immigration to the feds.” But when one million people march to your front step, they deserve a welcome. And here’s what I said: I said, “I don’t see any illegals here!” That one got me into a lot of trouble. But sometimes you have to say it figuratively before it becomes true. No human being is illegal…No human being should be illegal. We must enshrine this principle into the heart and soul of this country’s immigration policy. That is our moral imperative. That is our political challenge. And 2013 is the time. When we fix our broken immigration system, we will restore a basic American covenant. We are a nation of immigrants. We rightly claim distinction for our long history of welcoming people from all four corners of the earth to our shores. This history is a source of national pride. This history is a source of national profit. Think of it. Immigrants or their children started a full 40 percent of our Fortune 500 companies. These companies – the powerhouses of our economy, the planet’s most recognizable brands – have combined revenues of 4.2 trillion dollars. That sum is greater than the GDP of every single country in the world except the United States, China and Japan. We are a beacon of freedom and opportunity the world over because we have sealed a social contract of a special and significant sort. As immigrants have stepped across our borders, we have always said, “If you apply yourselves… If you work hard… If you join and participate in American society, doors will open… You can achieve a sense of security, prosperity and, above all else, dignity. Not only for yourselves but for your children. In exchange for hard work and loyalty, we have promised to give immigrants a grip on the ladder … To provide access to education and resources…. To chart a path to full participation in our society that is transparent and fair. Unfortunately we have lost touch with this tradition of openness and opportunity. For the last two decades, we have not kept up our side of the bargain. We have created an immigration system that is long on enforcement, but short on opportunity. A system where states compete with one another to draft more and more draconian anti-immigrant legislation. A system that happily capitalizes on the labor of millions of undocumented men and women, but that refuses to extend to them the basic rights and privileges most of us take for granted. We have created a system no longer in step with our cherished values and ideals. In November, Americans faced a fundamental choice… A choice between keeping our broken system or reviving our immigration compact. The American people made the right decision. They rejected a policy based on fear and fences. They embraced the hopes and dreams of people like Anthony Ng and Salvador Dorantes. Anthony and Salvador aren’t citizens. They’re DREAMers. Anthony is with us in the audience today. Anthony came to the US from the Philipines when he was 12. Salvador first came to America from Mexico when he was only two. They have worked hard and excelled. Their hearts overflow with the passionate desire to give back to the place they call home. Anthony is determined to let the world know that there are many Asian Pacific Islander DREAMers out there. So he works with API youth, educating them and inspiring them to lift their voices and be heard. A patriot to his bones, Salvador’s dream is to join the military. To stand tall in uniform…to fight for the country that has given him so much… This has been Salvador’s goal since he was a kid. When President Obama stopped the deportations of Dream Act eligible youth last year, he opened the door of opportunity for young people like Salvador and Anthony. And he pointed the way forward by establishing important principles to guide immigration reform. Immigrants must take personal responsibility for their actions, but as they do we must provide them a meaningful path forward to become full members of American society. We have every right to enforce our laws and protect our borders, but we must balance this with the need to encourage the aspirations of immigrants. These are the principles that the American people threw their support behind in November. And these are the principles that must guide immigration reform in the coming months. With these principles in mind, we need reform built on the following six policy pillars. One, a pathway to legal permanent residency and citizenship for the eleven million undocumented immigrants must be at the core of reform. Two, legalization should be earned, but not unattainable. It should be a process, not a punishment and should include a criminal background check, proof of English language skills and American civic knowledge, and the payment of back taxes. Three, family unification should continue as a key priority of our immigration policy. The goal must be to protect the sanctity of the family. Keeping families together not only keeps capital in the United States, it also maximizes the potential that these immigrants start family-based small businesses and grow our economy. Despite the economic benefits and moral imperative, millions wait over two decades to be reunited with family members. This must change. Four, the hard work and talent of immigrants fuels our economy. Our immigration policy must expand the avenues for these valued workers to seek legal employment. As the President has suggested, let’s staple a green card to the diplomas of foreign students getting advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and math. We need to expand the H1-B visa program and, at the same time, we need effective visa programs for agricultural workers and for low-skilled, non-seasonal workers. Five, immigration reform must include an effective and efficient employment verification system. Such a system can and must prevent unlawful employment, reward those employers and employees who play by the rules and protect Americans’ fundamental rights. Six, we must protect our border through smart enforcement. According to the Migration Policy Institute, immigration enforcement takes the lion’s share of federal law enforcement spending.  Today, net undocumented migration is at or below zero. But we must realize that we will not meet our immigration challenge through enforcement alone. The goal of our immigration enforcement policy should be to remove real threats at our borders and inside our country. We should deport serious offenders. We should not deport people whose most serious crime is a lack of papers. By deporting such people, we erode the trust between law enforcement and the immigrant community… We needlessly break up families and deprive children of the love and protection of their parents – all in our zeal to enforce the law. According to ICE’s own data, almost three fourths of those deported have no serious felony convictions. So the reform of Secure Communities must be part of the overall reform of immigration policy. It is time to put an end to the practice of deporting non-serious criminals. Our neighborhoods will be safer and our families will be more secure. This is an ambitious agenda.  But immigration reform cannot wait another political season. Already we are hearing the voices of those who did not learn the lessons of November or who have chosen to ignore them. “This isn’t the right year,” they say. “The agenda is too crowded,” they caution. You’ve even heard some point to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary to argue that immigration reform should be punted again. Washington should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. Congress is fully capable of enacting responsible gun safety legislation and comprehensive immigration reform. Other voices are calling for a piecemeal approach. Instead of a path to full citizenship, they are advocating the way-station of permanent residency…. Instead of reform for all immigrants, they are advocating just reform for the highly skilled… Instead of balancing enforcement with integration, they are calling for us to double down on the policy of widespread deportations. The time for half-measures and one-sided approaches is over. The bottom line in this debate is full citizenship. There can be no second class citizens in America. This doesn’t just make moral sense. It makes economic sense. As the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce notes, when the head of a household becomes a citizen, family income rises almost 14 percent. According to the Center for American Progress, if we legalize the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, we would give our economy a 1.5 trillion dollar shot in the arm over the next decade. The federal government would see 4.5 billion dollars in more tax revenue in just three years. Who knew that creating a path toward citizenship would also help us create a path away from the fiscal cliff? So let’s make 2013 the year. Immigrants don’t deserve half a handshake. They deserve a full embrace. We aren’t the land of opportunity for some… We are the land of opportunity for all. We Americans may come from different backgrounds. We may speak different languages and worship in different ways. But all of us are pursuing the same American Dream. It’s the dream that brought my grandfather from Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico to Los Angeles a century ago. He had little money, even less English, but an unshakeable faith in the relationship between work and reward. He left Mexico because the country was too divided. There was just rich and poor. My grandfather did not believe that birth was destiny. He believed that where you are born should not determine where you end up. That’s why he came to America. In 2013, let us raise our voices above the partisan din and bring a message – a message of hope and promise — to our fellow Americans. In 2013, let us achieve immigration reform that honors our country’s promise… Its founding promise… Its glorious promise of liberty and justice for all. Thank you. — Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa
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A Full Embrace, not Half a Handshake: Now is the Time for Real Immigration Reform - Speech to the National Press Club

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.

I am truly honored to be here at one of our country’s most venerable institutions of public deliberation.

In less than six months, my final term as Mayor of Los Angeles will come to a close.

With each passing week, I take another step toward what one wit called, “The transition from Who’s Who to Who’s He?”

The sun may be setting on my administration, but I am not riding off into the sunset just yet.

The agenda is still packed with challenges.

Many pressing issues still demand action.

And chief among them is immigration reform.

There are few more fundamental questions that we face.

Who we welcome to our shores…

How we secure our borders…

What we do to include the millions of undocumented men and women who work hard and do the hardest work…

And how we keep them safely together with their five million citizen children.

These questions go straight to the heart of who we are as a people.

At stake are bedrock rights and responsibilities of American democracy.

They fuel strong passions on all sides.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is high time we gave clear and consistent answers to these most basic questions.

Now is the time for real immigration reform.

Comprehensive reform…Common sense reform…Humane reform.

Reform that is cemented by our most sacred values…

Reform that serves our country, bolsters our economy and respects the immigrants who risk so much to come here in search of nothing less and nothing more than a better life.

This cause strikes a deeply personal chord for me.

It is at the heart of one of my proudest moments…as an elected official…as an Angeleno…as a human being.

In March 2006, one million people marched to the Los Angeles City Hall.

On that historic day, one million people threw off the yoke of suspicion and fear and stepped out of the shadows.

Moms and dads…Kids…Grandmas and grandpas…

People who worked hard…who were humble…but who were

tired of being scapegoated…

Tired of hearing the catcalls that they were the cause of all the country’s problems…

Tired of being told to go home…to go back where they came from.

They marched because they had a message.

They were home and they weren’t going anywhere.

And they wanted a response…

From me, from the alcalde.

Some said, “Don’t do it.”

 “You’ve been in office less than a year.”

 “Your job is to fix the potholes. Leave immigration to the feds.”

But when one million people march to your front step, they deserve a welcome.

And here’s what I said:

I said, “I don’t see any illegals here!”

That one got me into a lot of trouble.

But sometimes you have to say it figuratively before it becomes true.

No human being is illegal…No human being should be illegal.

We must enshrine this principle into the heart and soul of this country’s immigration policy.

That is our moral imperative.

That is our political challenge.

And 2013 is the time.

When we fix our broken immigration system, we will restore a basic American covenant.

We are a nation of immigrants.

We rightly claim distinction for our long history of welcoming people from all four corners of the earth to our shores.

This history is a source of national pride.

This history is a source of national profit.

Think of it. Immigrants or their children started a full 40 percent of our Fortune 500 companies.

These companies – the powerhouses of our economy, the planet’s most recognizable brands – have combined revenues of 4.2 trillion dollars.

That sum is greater than the GDP of every single country in the world except the United States, China and Japan.

We are a beacon of freedom and opportunity the world over because we have sealed a social contract of a special and significant sort.

As immigrants have stepped across our borders, we have always said, “If you apply yourselves…

If you work hard…

If you join and participate in American society, doors will open…

You can achieve a sense of security, prosperity and, above all else, dignity.

Not only for yourselves but for your children.

In exchange for hard work and loyalty, we have promised to give immigrants a grip on the ladder …

To provide access to education and resources….

To chart a path to full participation in our society that is transparent and fair.

Unfortunately we have lost touch with this tradition of openness and opportunity.

For the last two decades, we have not kept up our side of the bargain.

We have created an immigration system that is long on enforcement, but short on opportunity.

A system where states compete with one another to draft more and more draconian anti-immigrant legislation.

A system that happily capitalizes on the labor of millions of undocumented men and women, but that refuses to extend to them the basic rights and privileges most of us take for granted.

We have created a system no longer in step with our cherished values and ideals.

In November, Americans faced a fundamental choice…

A choice between keeping our broken system or reviving our immigration compact.

The American people made the right decision.

They rejected a policy based on fear and fences.

They embraced the hopes and dreams of people like Anthony Ng and Salvador Dorantes.

Anthony and Salvador aren’t citizens.

They’re DREAMers. Anthony is with us in the audience today.

Anthony came to the US from the Philipines when he was 12. Salvador first came to America from Mexico when he was only two.

They have worked hard and excelled.

Their hearts overflow with the passionate desire to give back to the place they call home.

Anthony is determined to let the world know that there are many Asian Pacific Islander DREAMers out there. So he works with API youth, educating them and inspiring them to lift their voices and be heard.

A patriot to his bones, Salvador’s dream is to join the military.

To stand tall in uniform…to fight for the country that has given him so much…

This has been Salvador’s goal since he was a kid.

When President Obama stopped the deportations of Dream Act eligible youth last year, he opened the door of opportunity for young people like Salvador and Anthony.

And he pointed the way forward by establishing important principles to guide immigration reform.

Immigrants must take personal responsibility for their actions, but as they do we must provide them a meaningful path forward to become full members of American society.

We have every right to enforce our laws and protect our borders, but we must balance this with the need to encourage the aspirations of immigrants.

These are the principles that the American people threw their support behind in November.

And these are the principles that must guide immigration reform in the coming months.

With these principles in mind, we need reform built on the following six policy pillars.

One, a pathway to legal permanent residency and citizenship for the eleven million undocumented immigrants must be at the core of reform.

Two, legalization should be earned, but not unattainable. It should be a process, not a punishment and should include a criminal background check, proof of English language skills and American civic knowledge, and the payment of back taxes.

Three, family unification should continue as a key priority of our immigration policy. The goal must be to protect the sanctity of the family. Keeping families together not only keeps capital in the United States, it also maximizes the potential that these immigrants start family-based small businesses and grow our economy. Despite the economic benefits and moral imperative, millions wait over two decades to be reunited with family members. This must change.

Four, the hard work and talent of immigrants fuels our economy. Our immigration policy must expand the avenues for these valued workers to seek legal employment. As the President has suggested, let’s staple a green card to the diplomas of foreign students getting advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and math. We need to expand the H1-B visa program and, at the same time, we need effective visa programs for agricultural workers and for low-skilled, non-seasonal workers.

Five, immigration reform must include an effective and efficient employment verification system. Such a system can and must prevent unlawful employment, reward those employers and employees who play by the rules and protect Americans’ fundamental rights.

Six, we must protect our border through smart enforcement. According to the Migration Policy Institute, immigration enforcement takes the lion’s share of federal law enforcement spending. 

Today, net undocumented migration is at or below zero. But we must realize that we will not meet our immigration challenge through enforcement alone.

The goal of our immigration enforcement policy should be to remove real threats at our borders and inside our country.

We should deport serious offenders.

We should not deport people whose most serious crime is a lack of papers.

By deporting such people, we erode the trust between law enforcement and the immigrant community…

We needlessly break up families and deprive children of the love and protection of their parents – all in our zeal to enforce the law.

According to ICE’s own data, almost three fourths of those deported have no serious felony convictions.

So the reform of Secure Communities must be part of the overall reform of immigration policy.

It is time to put an end to the practice of deporting non-serious criminals.

Our neighborhoods will be safer and our families will be more secure.

This is an ambitious agenda.  But immigration reform cannot wait another political season.

Already we are hearing the voices of those who did not learn the lessons of November or who have chosen to ignore them.

“This isn’t the right year,” they say.

“The agenda is too crowded,” they caution.

You’ve even heard some point to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary to argue that immigration reform should be punted again.

Washington should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. Congress is fully capable of enacting responsible gun safety legislation and comprehensive immigration reform.

Other voices are calling for a piecemeal approach.

Instead of a path to full citizenship, they are advocating the way-station of permanent residency….

Instead of reform for all immigrants, they are advocating just reform for the highly skilled…

Instead of balancing enforcement with integration, they are calling for us to double down on the policy of widespread deportations.

The time for half-measures and one-sided approaches is over.

The bottom line in this debate is full citizenship. There can be no second class citizens in America.

This doesn’t just make moral sense. It makes economic sense.

As the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce notes, when the head of a household becomes a citizen, family income rises almost 14 percent.

According to the Center for American Progress, if we legalize the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, we would give our economy a 1.5 trillion dollar shot in the arm over the next decade.

The federal government would see 4.5 billion dollars in more tax revenue in just three years.

Who knew that creating a path toward citizenship would also help us create a path away from the fiscal cliff?

So let’s make 2013 the year.

Immigrants don’t deserve half a handshake.

They deserve a full embrace.

We aren’t the land of opportunity for some…

We are the land of opportunity for all.

We Americans may come from different backgrounds.

We may speak different languages and worship in different ways.

But all of us are pursuing the same American Dream.

It’s the dream that brought my grandfather from Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico to Los Angeles a century ago.

He had little money, even less English, but an unshakeable faith in the relationship between work and reward.

He left Mexico because the country was too divided. There was just rich and poor.

My grandfather did not believe that birth was destiny.

He believed that where you are born should not determine where you end up.

That’s why he came to America.

In 2013, let us raise our voices above the partisan din and bring a message – a message of hope and promise — to our fellow Americans.

In 2013, let us achieve immigration reform that honors our country’s promise…

Its founding promise…

Its glorious promise of liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

— Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa