San Francisco Democratic Party pushes for non-citizens to join party as convention kicks off

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- There was a lot of excitement near the Moscone Center Friday as people began to prepare for 14 Democratic presidential candidates to descend upon San Francisco.

Members of the Democratic Party on the local level are using the convention to highlight issues they hope the candidates will support.

The San Francisco Democratic Party held a news conference Friday, calling for non-citizens to have full membership of the party.

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Membership would allow non-citizens to become delegates and proxies within the party. Supporters of the measure say it will allow immigrants to advocate for their own issues.

Sarah Souza of the San Francisco County Committee said this has already been approved by the Democratic Party on the national level, but so far Nevada is the only state doing it.

"California is actually behind," Souza said. "So we're trying to set the precedent here and insure that we preach to what we always claim to be, a sanctuary state where we allow all immigrants to have opportunities and resources."

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Souza said the resolution would be considered by the party on Friday.

Lots of big names like Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren will attend the convention, but front runner Joe Biden will not.

Biden is scheduled to be in Ohio Saturday night for an LGBTQ rights dinner. He's not appearing at the convention as a part of a campaign strategy. His camp wants to be selective in his appearances. They believe that will minimize the chance of any sort of backlash or potential booing from liberal California activists.

See more stories on the 2020 presidential election.