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Resolution No. 2023-XXX <br />Page 1 of 4 <br />2 <br />0 <br />2 <br />5 <br />4 <br />RESOLUTION NO. 2023-XXX <br />A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA <br />SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY BILL 1306 (The HOME Act) <br />Whereas, refugees and immigrants are a vital part of California’s heart and identity, and the City <br />of Santa Ana recognizes the humanity of all people who call our community home, <br />Whereas, California’s criminal justice system unjustly and disproportionately harms Black, <br />Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian and Pacific Islander American communities. <br />Whereas, in recent years, the Legislature and California voters have demonstrated a strong <br />commitment to reforming our criminal system and ending mass incarceration by enacting various <br />landmark reforms. Through these reforms, certain incarcerated individuals have the opportunity <br />to be considered for resentencing or release. <br />Whereas, despite these reforms, when California’s prisons voluntarily and unnecessarily transfer <br />immigrant and refugee community members eligible for release from state custody to U.S. <br />Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for immigration detention and deportation <br />purposes, they subject these community members to double punishment and further trauma. This <br />double-punishment devastates families and deprives our communities of beloved leaders who are <br />eager to positively contribute to society. If not because of where they were born, these <br />community members would be allowed to return home to their families and communities. <br />Whereas, immigrant community members can be incarcerated by ICE, often for prolonged <br />periods and with no right to bail, and deported, permanently banishing them from the country, <br />from their families, their homes, their livelihoods and “all that makes life worth living.” Ng Fung <br />Ho v. White, 259 U.S. 276, 284 (1922). The Supreme Court has repeatedly acknowledged that <br />for many people, deportation is a more severe penalty than any jail sentence. See, e.g., Lee v. <br />United States, 137 S.Ct. 1958, 1968 (2017); Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356, 364 (2010). <br />Whereas, data shows that Black and Brown immigrants are disproportionately targeted by arrest, <br />detention, and deportation. <br />Whereas, when the California legislature passed criminal justice reforms previously, these <br />reforms were expected to save the state millions by reducing the length of draconian sentences. <br />However, when Californians who are immigrants earn release through these reforms, the