Sisters and Brothers –

This week has been bittersweet. We won Proposition JJJ for good jobs and affordable housing, Proposition 55 for a quality education for our kids, Measure M for a bigger, better transit system and Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger for County Supervisor. But, we came up short in the big one.

As we mourn this loss and learn the lessons only a defeat can teach, let’s carry this experience with us into our next fights like the one below.

Thank you,

Rusty Hicks

Executive Secretary-Treasurer

Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Huffington Post: I Hope We Can All Agree

I lead the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. So my views on immigration reform may be the same as yours, or they may be different. Good people can disagree. But, on this Veterans Day, there is one immigration issue that I hope we can all agree on – that nothing should prevent a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine who raised their right hand to swear their Oath of Enlistment to raise that hand again to take their Oath of Naturalization upon their honorable discharge.

As a veteran who served in Afghanistan, I probably served alongside a noncitizen service member. One’s legal status was irrelevant. It did not matter to me. And it certainly did not matter to the enemy. We all put on a uniform, picked up a weapon and carried out the orders of our Commander-in-Chief.

Yet, after risking our lives for the country we dearly love, we are treated differently once our service is complete. Some of us settle back into civilian life in the land of the free, while others are deported to a place they barely know.

The United States of America needs to immediately end the disgraceful way we deport undocumented soldiers who are honorably discharged from the Armed Forces.

The Pentagon estimates that 8,000 noncitizens enlist in the Armed Services every year. Their enlistment comes with a promise of naturalization. But there’s a catch. If they ever commit even a minor offense their service will be disregarded and they can be deported. Wartime service – deported. Disabled – deported. Purple Heart – deported. Medals for Valor – deported.

In practical terms it means that a 20-year military career will count less than a minor crime. Even if it doesn’t result in any time in jail. Even if the offense stems from the tolls of military service. The only time that a deported veteran might return to America is in a coffin. We will gladly bury them in any one of our 131 national cemeteries.

There are thousands of these veterans. Women and men who left their families to defend America and now are forever banned from returning to their loved ones.

Something about this is just wrong. And it’s something that the United States Congress can fix.

California’s 2.1 million veterans is the largest number in America. California’s 53 Members of the House and two Senators make it the largest delegation in our nation’s Capitol. The Federation I proudly lead has more veterans as members than nearly any other organization in California.

With our size comes a special responsibility. So, I ask each of you to join me in putting aside our differences and doing something together. Doing something for those who have already done so much for us. So, make your voice heard for those who have no voice. Sign a petition. Write a letter. Call your Member of Congress.

Because there is a soldier’s creed that is so old it was first used in Latin – “Nemo Resideo.” It means “Leave No One Behind.”