LA City Councilman Blasts Homeless Housing Project, Says Latino Community 'Jeopardized'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - City Councilman Gilbert Cedillo voiced his apparent disapproval of a vote to build a homeless housing project on land in Echo Park that supporters say gives youth a safe space during an emotional family reunification ceremony Friday.
About 500 people from Cedillo's Council District 1 waited for hours at the Graff Lab in the heart of Pico Union to be reunited with family members from Mexico who haven't seen their relatives in more than 20 years due to their immigration status.
Many of the families coming from the Mexican states of Nayarit, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Morelos, Jalisco and Mexico City were greeted by their loved ones with with flowers and welcoming signs.
The reunification was only possible "after several years of lobbying the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Department to grant temporary humanitarian visas for the families", according to a statement from Cedillo's office.
The temporary visas allow them to stay for up to 30 days, when they will be driven back to the airport for the trip back to Mexico, CBSLA's Randy Paige reported.
But while speaking at the event, Cedillo alluded to the City Council's vote on Wednesday to approve placing a permanent supportive housing project for homeless people on land used as a therapeutic playground by El Centro del Pueblo in Echo Park. The nonprofit provides gang intervention and
therapy services.
"Although today is a joyous day, and we get to reunify 50 families, I am emotional especially when reminded of the magnitude of how our greater
Latino community in Los Angeles and the United States is continuously jeopardized," Cedillo said.
The action was strongly opposed by the nonprofit, although supporters said El Centro will be able to continue its work.
"Earlier this week, our Latino community was forced to give up their efforts to provide the best care for their children for misguided attempts to
solve the housing crisis," Cedillo said. "Today, we witness first-hand the consequences of having a broken immigration system in the United States, one that keeps families apart, in some cases for over 20 years."
While El Centro is not located in Cedillo's district represents, he said more than 60% of its clients reside in his district.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)