HR0241 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0241 LRB101 11818 MST 58693 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The separation of children from their mother or father, or from both, is a violation of the human rights that should be afforded to all children; and

WHEREAS, The just struggle to protect the right of children to stay with their families is at the core of the struggle in this country to complete our imperfect but developing democracy from its original perpetration during the genocide of the native American and the holocaust of slavery when children were ripped from their mother's breast and the guidance of their fathers; and

WHEREAS, This struggle is inspired by our spiritual, cultural, and democratic ideals of what is right and just; and

WHEREAS, In the reality of the failure of the U.S. Congress, then-President Barack Obama was urged to issue executive orders to at least temporarily prevent deportations that separate families with U.S. born children or DACA eligible children; and

WHEREAS, The alternative to separation is the de facto deportation of U.S. citizen children and children raised side by side with U.S. citizens for the greatest part of their young lives to countries they know nothing about, and, in which, they are placed in the most disadvantaged and dangerous positions, denying their rights as U.S. citizens and their universal rights as children; and

WHEREAS, President Obama did issue executive orders that provided the deferral of deportation and the provision of work permissions for undocumented individuals brought to this country as minors and also provided the same deferrals of deportation and working permissions to undocumented parents of U.S. citizen children or such minors; the executive orders further established the practice of prosecutorial discretion to defer such deportations in order to prevent the unjust separation of families or the de facto deportation of U.S. citizen children until the Congress could arrive at a permanent solution; and

WHEREAS, The courts reached no final resolutions on the constitutionality of these executive orders, and Congress still has not reached any comprehensive solution for millions of families caught in the system of undocumented labor, which has operated for decades in this nation; and

WHEREAS, In spite of the continuing threat of injustice to children, the current administration has cancelled those executive orders without Congress having established any alternative; and

WHEREAS, These provisions, previously adopted to protect the right of children to have the support of their parents, represented a just and much needed temporary adjustment and should be restored by an act of Congress; and

WHEREAS, Those in government who looked the other way at this system, those companies who used undocumented labor, and those who benefitted from the billions of dollars collected from the paychecks of undocumented workers to fill the coffers of social security have been asked to pay no price; and

WHEREAS, The children of those undocumented workers, who came and worked honestly in this country and formed families and raised children, are the least culpable and the most vulnerable victims of the system of undocumented labor and are being forced every day to endure the unimaginable pain and damage of family separation or de facto deportation; and

WHEREAS, Those parents with U.S. citizen children who were given protected status through prosecutorial discretion and who reported regularly to ICE as they were required were among the first to be deported under this administration; and

WHEREAS, There has been a 250% increase over the last year in deportations of those with no criminal records, most of whom have families and children, with the likelihood that these numbers will continue to increase; and

WHEREAS, At least 325,000 Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, Hondurans, and Haitians who have lived in this country for many years and have established families with 273,000 U.S. born citizen children, as well as other children brought here at an early age (22% of original entrants were under 16) who have known no other country, now face the cancellation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and are being deported, separating children from their parents or de facto deporting U.S. citizen children; and

WHEREAS, U.S. policies have contributed to the continuing conditions of instability, poverty, and violence in the aforementioned countries, and, morally, these children of TPS families should not be returned to endure those conditions; and

WHEREAS, The psychological, educational, health, economic, and mortality effects of separation from their parents or their de facto removal from this country are documented violations of the human rights accorded universally to children; and

WHEREAS, The separation of families at the border for those seeking asylum is a violation of human rights; and

WHEREAS, The passage of a clean DACA bill will further prevent the separation of families; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the U.S. Congress to pass legislation that provides the right to visas for the undocumented parents of U.S. citizen children or DACA eligible children and TPS recipient parents with U.S. citizen children or children brought here before the age of 16, which allows them and their children to stay and work legally in this country to provide for the economic, physical, and spiritual security and development of those children; and be it further

RESOLVED, That those visas and work permits should be issued on proof that there are no criminal convictions of these individuals and proof of the existence in residence of U.S. citizen or DACA eligible children under the age of 25; and be it further

RESOLVED, That those visas should be renewable every three years on proof of the continued verification of the original conditions of issue; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the U.S. Congress to pass legislation to immediately stop this violation of the human rights of children and their rights as U.S. citizens; and be it further

RESOLVED, That five million U.S. citizen children and two million children brought to this nation as infants, raised here among U.S. citizens, should not be deprived of the sacred right to family and parental guidance and support because of the nation's political paralysis in correcting and taking responsibility for past mistakes of immigration policy and practice but, instead, should be protected and afforded the most basic human right, which is afforded through the creation of family and guaranteed by the innate and irreplaceable responsibility of parents; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the U.S. Congress to pass a clean DACA bill that gives eligible recipients immediate security and a road to citizenship; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the U.S. Congress to maintain and extend family-based legal immigration; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the President of the United States, the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, the U.S. Senate Minority Leader, the U.S. Speaker of the House, the U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader, and all members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.