Amended
IN
Assembly
August 22, 2014
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Amended
IN
Assembly
August 14, 2014
|
|
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2013–2014 REGULAR SESSION
House Resolution
No. 51
Introduced by Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Garcia)
|
August 04, 2014 |
Relative to immigration.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
HR 51, as amended, V. Manuel Pérez.
Digest Key
WHEREAS, Inscribed on our nation’s Statue of Liberty are the words, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest–tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”; and
WHEREAS, The number of unaccompanied Central American children fleeing violence and entering the United States has resulted in 52,000 apprehensions by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with a projected total of 90,000 apprehensions of unaccompanied minors expected by the end of September 2014; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 28 percent of the children detained this year have been from Honduras, 24 percent from Guatemala, and 21 percent from El Salvador, countries whose respective murder rates are among the top six highest murder rates in the world; and
WHEREAS, The prevalence of gang violence, sexual assault, political corruption, as well as poverty in Central American countries has prompted unaccompanied minors to leave their home countries and immigrate to the United States; and
WHEREAS, The President of El Salvador and Minister of Foreign Relations of Guatemala acknowledge that pull factors, such as family reunification, economic opportunity, and improved quality of life are driving unaccompanied minors to immigrate to the United States; and
WHEREAS, The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees urges the United States to grant refugee status to Central American children who have crossed the border, estimating that 60 percent of the children who have fled into the United States have been forcibly displaced, qualifying them for asylum under international law; and
WHEREAS, In accordance with the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, and other laws, the United States must ensure that these unaccompanied children have access to due process, lawyers, a judge, and justice; and
WHEREAS, Central American governments take full responsibility for the flow of unaccompanied children to the United States, recognizing that their respective countries could and should do more to mitigate the push factors driving so many children to flee to the United States, including lack of economic development opportunities, rampant poverty, and political corruption; and
WHEREAS, Central American countries acknowledge their responsibility to ensure successful integration for the unaccompanied children who are repatriated back home; and
WHEREAS, Central American countries are working toward improving their socioeconomic conditions by implementing measures that will, over time, help improve the quality of life of their people and curtail mass immigration. These measures include increased access to education by implementing longer school days, access to school uniforms and lunch programs for children, health clinics, and grants and loans to farmers to develop the agricultural economy; and
WHEREAS, The Assembly supports both state and federal efforts to formulate strong partnerships with Central American countries to promote economic development, education, and the rule of law as a means to improve, stabilize, and democratize their institutions, which will in turn help promote public safety and curtail mass immigration; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly declares that all Californians, as residents of the United States, have a civic responsibility to respect the human dignity of immigrants seeking refuge in the United States and to ensure that those immigrants are afforded due process and equal protection under the laws of the United States, including safe passage to medical care, as well as access to a mode of communication to facilitate their repatriation back to Central America when doing so is consistent with their rights and does not endanger their lives and safety; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the Governor, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the State Library, and the California State Archives.