Rob Garcia

I think it is fair to say that no port has essentially closed down, certainly not L.A./Long Beach, because of this crisis.

This would not be acceptable anywhere else. So, why do we allow it to happen in Puerto Rico?

It feels really wasteful to let skilled electrical workers serve as drivers or security workers, especially at this time of Puerto Rico's energy crisis.

Electricity, of course, is something that many of us take for granted. But for people in Puerto Rico, it is a matter of life and death.

The people of Puerto Rico have suffered too much for too long.

With additional resources and immigration reform efforts, we can prevent the need for these types of shelters, period.

It breaks my heart that we have an immigration system today that is broken.

I think what we have found is that the kids that are arriving are just like any other children that you would see in our country or anywhere else.

I strongly support comprehensive immigration reform and lead a community that welcomes immigrants.

DREAMERS and those who have served in the military should go to the front of the line.

We should be looking at rescinding Title 42 and fully restoring access to asylum at our borders.

I think for most folks in our community this is not a political issue; this is about helping kids, about being compassionate, about being kind.

Central to any immigration reform effort needs to be a clear and fair pathway to citizenship for those who are undocumented in our country.

We must ensure that children are not held at border facilities, which, honestly, are no place for children.

I am here today to address the subcommittee about our city's support of what is really a humanitarian mission.

I came to this country when I was 5 years old from Peru and under different circumstances.

I am so proud that our community is stepping forward to help care for some of the vulnerable children arriving at the Southwest Border.

Last year, I met with a young girl named Vanessa from the San Carlos Apache Tribe. She talked about the importance of Oak Flat and what the sacred site means in a young woman's coming-of-age ceremony.

Plain and simple, this is a violation of the sanctity of ancestral lands of Indigenous peoples.

We made a decision like really early on that we thought we needed to vaccinate all groups as soon as possible.

I always tell people too, you know, Long Beach, it’s the same size as Atlanta, Georgia, from a population perspective.

Donald Trump has completely broken trust in government, so you have a lot of communities that would typically be much more likely to listen to the authorities, that are scared, that don't want to interact with the government particularly…

we're having 9/11-like events every single day.

the federal government again is completely missing from this process.

it's a complete slap in the face to every family that have lost someone.