Important to shut down anti-immigration sentiment

Recently, behind closed doors, Orange County Board of Supervisors decided to join the federal government in a lawsuit against the state of California over its stance on immigration sanctuary. Now, there are neighbors on Nextdoor.com who seem to want the city of Laguna Beach to do the same. Although, I assume they are in the minority, they are determined and very loud.

This harkens back to 2006 when a small conservative advocacy group sued the city for allegedly breaking federal law by spending public funds on the day labor site in the canyon. Our city won that lawsuit, and I’m glad we did. Our council was a voice of reason back then, and I was proud of how hate speech and intimidation were shut down. After the lawsuit, things returned to normal. Laguna remained the accepting place that anyone who’s lived here for awhile can appreciate.

But here we are, all these years later, with a new group of people who seem to be emboldened by current politics. They are very vocal and are pressuring our city to join with other cities and Orange County to go against the state of California. 

The immigrants here in Laguna are part of our community. They are people our kids and grandkids play with, they go to our schools and churches, they serve in our military, they work with us and for us. It is important that we shut down this discriminant anti immigrant pressure, and just like in 2006, we again counter racism in our town, once and for all. 

Carey Strombotne

Laguna Beach