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1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | | WHEREAS, President Donald J. Trump has falsely claimed that |
3 | | the forced family separation
that took place at the U.S.-Mexico |
4 | | border is rooted in law; and
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5 | | WHEREAS, The family separation was a direct result of an
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6 | | announcement made in early April of 2018 by Attorney General |
7 | | Jeff Sessions which stated that the
Departments of Justice and |
8 | | Homeland Security would work together to criminally
prosecute |
9 | | everyone who crosses the border illegally, now known as the |
10 | | Trump
Administration's "zero tolerance" policy; and
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11 | | WHEREAS, Since the implementation of this policy, over |
12 | | 2,300 young children have
been torn away from their families; |
13 | | and |
14 | | WHEREAS, It has been reported that hundreds of children |
15 | | have been
caged with fencing at a facility in McAllen, Texas; |
16 | | and |
17 | | WHEREAS, It has been reported that federal agents ripped a |
18 | | child away from her
mother while she was breastfeeding her; and |
19 | | WHEREAS, It has been reported that federal agents removed |
20 | | children from
their families, ostensibly to give them baths, |
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1 | | and they never returned; and |
2 | | WHEREAS, Both law enforcement and Health and Human Services |
3 | | officials have
been unable to provide statistics on how many of |
4 | | the detained children are under
the age of five, two, or even |
5 | | so young that they are non-verbal; and |
6 | | WHEREAS, There has been no independent documentation of the |
7 | | living conditions
inside the detainment facilities, as allowed |
8 | | journalists have been barred from taking
photographs or videos; |
9 | | and |
10 | | WHEREAS, All of the photographs depicting the living |
11 | | conditions in such
facilities have been provided by the Trump |
12 | | Administration; and |
13 | | WHEREAS, According to a former youth care worker at the |
14 | | Estrella del Norte
shelter in Tucson, Texas, during his tenure |
15 | | children struggled to cope with the
extreme trauma, causing |
16 | | them to lash out hysterically and even attempt self-harm; and |
17 | | WHEREAS, The American Medical Association, the American |
18 | | Academy of
Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, |
19 | | and the American College of
Physicians have all condemned the |
20 | | administration's practice, warning that children
torn from |
21 | | their parents experience serious short and long-term health
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1 | | consequences; and |
2 | | WHEREAS, According to experts, unexpected separation from |
3 | | a parent figure
triggers a flood of stress hormones that |
4 | | disrupt neural circuits in the brain, creating
high levels of |
5 | | anxiety, and damaging a child's capacity to manage their |
6 | | emotions,
trust people, and focus their attention on |
7 | | age-appropriate activities; and |
8 | | WHEREAS, As a nation, we put an end to the child welfare |
9 | | system using
orphanages due to concerns of lasting trauma to |
10 | | children, and now the federal
government has placed young |
11 | | children in facilities that are not equipped to take care
of |
12 | | them; and |
13 | | WHEREAS, In response to the clear mistreatment of children, |
14 | | 11
states are pulling National Guard troops from the |
15 | | U.S.-Mexico border; and |
16 | | WHEREAS, Governor Bruce Rauner previously said he would |
17 | | send Illinois National
Guard troops to the border, if asked to |
18 | | by the president; and
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19 | | WHEREAS, While the president reversed course in signing an |
20 | | executive order to
end his policy of family separation, it |
21 | | fails to address the over 2,300 young children
who were torn |
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1 | | away from their parents and remain separated; and
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2 | | WHEREAS, The United Nations' top human rights official, |
3 | | Democratic and
Republican lawmakers and governors from across |
4 | | the country, Prime Minister
Theresa May, Pope Francis, and |
5 | | other religious groups have condemned or criticized
the |
6 | | administration's policy; and
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7 | | WHEREAS, The administration's unconscionable treatment of |
8 | | children is an affront
to basic human decency and to the values |
9 | | that built the State of Illinois and the
United States of |
10 | | America; therefore, be it
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11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE |
12 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
13 | | urge Governor Bruce Rauner to reverse his previous stance by |
14 | | pledging that no state resources will be used to assist the |
15 | | Trump Administration in carrying out its policies at the |
16 | | border, and that he call on the Acting Inspector General of the |
17 | | Department of Homeland Security to fully investigate how the |
18 | | thousands of young children currently detained are going to be |
19 | | reunited with their families; and be it further
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20 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be |
21 | | delivered to the Governor of
the State of Illinois, the |
22 | | Illinois Congressional Delegation, the Attorney General of
the |