For the first time in California history, two illegal immigrants were appointed as city commissioners. The appointments were made in Huntington Park, Calif., a city in southeastern Los Angeles County with a large population of undocumented residents.
The two illegal immigrants chosen as commissioners are Julian Zatarain, 21, who was appointed to the parks and recreation commission, and Francisco Medina, 29, who was appointed to the health and education commission.
A number of residents expressed their disappointment with the decision at a raucous city council meeting, where some charged that Councilman Jhonny Pineda appointed the pair because Zatarain and Medina worked on his campaign.
“You are out of order!” one woman yelled during the meeting, reported CBS Local.
“We’re sending the wrong message: you can be illegal and you can come and work for the city,” said another woman.
“I don’t think they should be allowed in the country if they’re … if they haven’t been granted asylum by the United States government. Then they’re considered criminals I would say. Everybody that’s here illegally, right, would be considered a criminal,” Louis Knickerbocker told KTLA.
Zatarain and Medina do not qualify for President Obama’s Executive Order of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), according to Pineda.
Since they are in the country illegally, the law does not allow them to be paid for their council commissions. A city ordinance allows them to serve on the city commission as long as they do so as volunteers, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“The City Council appointed someone – not because they were undocumented or not – but because the background was really good for the position,” Zatarain said after his appointment was announced at the meeting. “So that means that we’re doing something good, that means that we’re moving forward. We’re becoming a more progressive society.”
“Our population includes documented and undocumented immigrants, and I wanted to make sure everyone could participate,” Huntington Park Mayor Karina Macias told the Times. “If we’re going to talk about transparency, being open and having a community that’s involved, then the conversation also has to include undocumented immigrants. I’m hoping other cities are looking at what we’re doing here.”
Zatarain arrived in the U.S. in September of 2007, and graduated at the top of his class from Huntington Park High School, reported CBS Local. Medina graduated from California State University at Dominguez Hill and has worked in the public sector, dedicating himself to helping the “most marginalized,” according to a press release.
“Of course, we all pay taxes,” Medina told KTLA after the city meeting. “In Huntington Park, there’s a big community of poor undocumented, and the fact that I’m going to be part of it, I think they’re going to be so proud of it as well.”
Robin Hvidston, executive director of the Claremont immigration enforcement group We the People Rising, told the Times that appointing “commission seats to individuals who are breaking federal laws” shows a “lack of respect for U.S. law.”
