Full Text of HR0241 101st General Assembly
HR0241 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The separation of children from their mother or | 3 | | father, or from both, is a violation of the human rights that | 4 | | should be afforded to all children; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The just struggle to protect the right of children | 6 | | to stay with their families is at the core of the struggle in | 7 | | this country to complete our imperfect but developing democracy | 8 | | from its original perpetration during the genocide of the | 9 | | native American and the holocaust of slavery when children were | 10 | | ripped from their mother's breast and the guidance of their | 11 | | fathers; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, This struggle is inspired by our spiritual, | 13 | | cultural, and democratic ideals of what is right and just; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, In the reality of the failure of the U.S. | 15 | | Congress, then-President Barack Obama was urged to issue | 16 | | executive orders to at least temporarily prevent deportations | 17 | | that separate families with U.S. born children or DACA eligible | 18 | | children; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, The alternative to separation is the de facto | 20 | | deportation of U.S. citizen children and children raised side | 21 | | by side with U.S. citizens for the greatest part of their young |
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| 1 | | lives to countries they know nothing about, and, in which, they | 2 | | are placed in the most disadvantaged and dangerous positions, | 3 | | denying their rights as U.S. citizens and their universal | 4 | | rights as children; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, President Obama did issue executive orders that | 6 | | provided the deferral of deportation and the provision of work | 7 | | permissions for undocumented individuals brought to this | 8 | | country as minors and also provided the same deferrals of | 9 | | deportation and working permissions to undocumented parents of | 10 | | U.S. citizen children or such minors; the executive orders | 11 | | further established the practice of prosecutorial discretion | 12 | | to defer such deportations in order to prevent the unjust | 13 | | separation of families or the de facto deportation of U.S. | 14 | | citizen children until the Congress could arrive at a permanent | 15 | | solution; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, The courts reached no final resolutions on the | 17 | | constitutionality of these executive orders, and Congress | 18 | | still has not reached any comprehensive solution for millions | 19 | | of families caught in the system of undocumented labor, which | 20 | | has operated for decades in this nation; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, In spite of the continuing threat of injustice to | 22 | | children, the current administration has cancelled those | 23 | | executive orders without Congress having established any |
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| 1 | | alternative; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, These provisions, previously adopted to protect | 3 | | the right of children to have the support of their parents, | 4 | | represented a just and much needed temporary adjustment and | 5 | | should be restored by an act of Congress; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Those in government who looked the other way at | 7 | | this system, those companies who used undocumented labor, and | 8 | | those who benefitted from the billions of dollars collected | 9 | | from the paychecks of undocumented workers to fill the coffers | 10 | | of social security have been asked to pay no price; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, The children of those undocumented workers, who | 12 | | came and worked honestly in this country and formed families | 13 | | and raised children, are the least culpable and the most | 14 | | vulnerable victims of the system of undocumented labor and are | 15 | | being forced every day to endure the unimaginable pain and | 16 | | damage of family separation or de facto deportation; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Those parents with U.S. citizen children who were | 18 | | given protected status through prosecutorial discretion and | 19 | | who reported regularly to ICE as they were required were among | 20 | | the first to be deported under this administration; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, There has been a 250% increase over the last year |
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| 1 | | in deportations of those with no criminal records, most of whom | 2 | | have families and children, with the likelihood that these | 3 | | numbers will continue to increase; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, At least 325,000 Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, | 5 | | Hondurans, and Haitians who have lived in this country for many | 6 | | years and have established families with 273,000 U.S. born | 7 | | citizen children, as well as other children brought here at an | 8 | | early age (22% of original entrants were under 16) who have | 9 | | known no other country, now face the cancellation of Temporary | 10 | | Protected Status (TPS) and are being deported, separating | 11 | | children from their parents or de facto deporting U.S. citizen | 12 | | children; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, U.S. policies have contributed to the continuing | 14 | | conditions of instability, poverty, and violence in the | 15 | | aforementioned countries, and, morally, these children of TPS | 16 | | families should not be returned to endure those conditions; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, The psychological, educational, health, economic, | 18 | | and mortality effects of separation from their parents or their | 19 | | de facto removal from this country are documented violations of | 20 | | the human rights accorded universally to children; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, The separation of families at the border for those | 22 | | seeking asylum is a violation of human rights; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The passage of a clean DACA bill will further | 2 | | prevent the separation of families; therefore, be it
| 3 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 4 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 5 | | we urge the U.S. Congress to pass legislation that provides the | 6 | | right to visas for the undocumented parents of U.S. citizen | 7 | | children or DACA eligible children and TPS recipient parents | 8 | | with U.S. citizen children or children brought here before the | 9 | | age of 16, which allows them and their children to stay and | 10 | | work legally in this country to provide for the economic, | 11 | | physical, and spiritual security and development of those | 12 | | children; and be it further | 13 | | RESOLVED, That those visas and work permits should be | 14 | | issued on proof that there are no criminal convictions of these | 15 | | individuals and proof of the existence in residence of U.S. | 16 | | citizen or DACA eligible children under the age of 25; and be | 17 | | it further | 18 | | RESOLVED, That those visas should be renewable every three | 19 | | years on proof of the continued verification of the original | 20 | | conditions of issue; and be it further | 21 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the U.S. Congress to pass |
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| 1 | | legislation to immediately stop this violation of the human | 2 | | rights of children and their rights as U.S. citizens; and be it | 3 | | further | 4 | | RESOLVED, That five million U.S. citizen children and two | 5 | | million children brought to this nation as infants, raised here | 6 | | among U.S. citizens, should not be deprived of the sacred right | 7 | | to family and parental guidance and support because of the | 8 | | nation's political paralysis in correcting and taking | 9 | | responsibility for past mistakes of immigration policy and | 10 | | practice but, instead, should be
protected and afforded the | 11 | | most basic human right, which is afforded through the creation | 12 | | of family and guaranteed by the innate and irreplaceable | 13 | | responsibility of parents; and be it further | 14 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the U.S. Congress to pass a clean | 15 | | DACA bill that gives eligible recipients immediate security and | 16 | | a road to citizenship; and be it further | 17 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the U.S. Congress to maintain and | 18 | | extend family-based legal immigration; and be it further
| 19 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 20 | | delivered to the President of the United States, the U.S. | 21 | | Senate Majority Leader, the U.S. Senate Minority Leader, the | 22 | | U.S. Speaker of the House, the U.S. House of Representatives |
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| 1 | | Minority Leader, and all members of the Illinois Congressional | 2 | | Delegation.
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