ACR 173: Sister state: State of Jalisco.

WHEREAS, The State of California and the State of Jalisco, Mexico, share a joint, vested interest within the industries of high technology manufacturing, trade, agriculture, and tourism between the two states; and

WHEREAS, The State of Jalisco’s capital city of Guadalajara is recognized as a major Latin and North American nexus for the technology industry, proudly dubbed “Mexico’s Silicon Valley”; and

WHEREAS, The State of California has engaged in a longstanding, bountiful economic relationship with laborers hailing from Jalisco, including the United States’ Bracero Program, allowing migrants of the region to display and share their culture with Californians across binational borders; and

WHEREAS, Migrants from the State of Jalisco have provided the State of California with a plethora of deeply significant cultural and culinary exports of their heritage, including mariachi music, the regional alcoholic beverage of tequila produced from the indigenous blue agave plant, and the meat stew dish of birria, among others; and

WHEREAS, Vast numbers of individuals who have migrated from Jalisco have set down roots in the State of California and ensured a generational connection between the two lands; and

WHEREAS, Following the approval of Senate Concurrent Resolution 82 by Senator Ben Hueso in 2014, California legislators have sought to ensure a continued relationship of cross-national collaboration and goodwill through good faith visits to the State of Jalisco in which they unite with elected officials and executive bodies to address the recent mass deportations being executed by the United States federal government, to guarantee the safety of, a mutual civic respect for, and due process for, all first-generation Jaliscan immigrants and descendants of Jaliscan immigrants residing within the State of California; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature recommits to formalizing the sister state relationship between the State of Jalisco in Mexico and the State of California for its mutually beneficial educational, economic, and cultural exchanges; and be it further

Resolved, That it is the intent of the Legislature through a sister state relationship with the State of Jalisco to do all of the following:

(a) To provide a platform to uphold the liberties and civil rights granted to individuals within the State of California by the state Constitution regardless of their immigration status.

(b) To continue to advocate for a stance of goodwill and cooperation between the elected officials and executive bodies dealing in immigration enforcement within the States of California and Jalisco for the good of the residents of both states.

(c) To honor the promise between the bordering states to hold a profound respect for the residents of each other’s states and communities; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for distribution.