BILL NUMBER: HR 51 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez
AUGUST 4, 2014
Relative to immigration.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST
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 violence in Honduras that is driving unaccompanied
minors to migrate to the United States can be traced back to the 2009
military coup d'état, and subsequent election of Porfirio Lobo,
which the United States immediately recognized despite the fact that
Mr. Lobo's administration retained most of the military figures who
perpetrated the illegal coup; and
WHEREAS, State-sponsored repression accelerated during the coup
and subsequent Lobo Administration, including the use of death
squads, the disappearance of opposition leaders, and the killing of
innocent civilians and journalists; and
WHEREAS, The United States has maintained, and in some areas
increased, military and police financing to Honduras, despite
compelling evidence linking the Lobo Administration to rampant
corruption and human rights abuses; and
WHEREAS, The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996 expanded the grounds for deportation,
resulting in the deportation of 20,000 young immigrants to Central
America between 2000 and 2004, inclusive. By 2010, over 125,000
immigrants had been deported, with 90 percent sent to Honduras,
Guatemala, and El Salvador; and
WHEREAS, Many of those deported had come to the United States as
young children, had become native English speakers, and had no
recollection of their home countries, often lacking proficiency in
the native language and customs of their home countries; and
WHEREAS, Taking advantage of the decades of civil war and unrest
in Central America, and lacking the cultural competency to earn an
honest living, many of those deported fell back into the gang
lifestyle they had learned in the United States and began initiating
new members to what had historically been American-based street
gangs; and
WHEREAS, The Central American gangs that resulted from the
deportation policies of the United States have resulted in rampant
violence across Central America, but most notably in Honduras,
Guatemala, and El Salvador, and includes homicides, kidnappings,
human trafficking, extortions, and smuggling of drugs, automobiles,
and weapons; 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, 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, The actions and rhetoric of some Californians who have
blocked access to federal immigration buses transporting detained
minors to federal immigration facilities demonstrates the need to
educate the public about the role of American foreign policy has had
in creating the instability that is driving so many young people to
leave their homelands, in the belief that increased understanding
will lead to greater compassion and responsibility towards these
vulnerable individuals caught up in a situation not of their making;
and
WHEREAS, The Assembly acknowledges the role of United States
foreign and domestic policy in destabilizing Central America and
driving unaccompanied minors to emigrate from their homeland and
recognizes that the formulation of stronger partnerships between
Central American countries, California, and the United States as a
whole are necessary in order to foster economic development in
sending countries to curtail mass migration and improve public
safety, tourism, and education; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the
Assembly declares that the residents of California, as residents of
the United States, have a duty to respect the human dignity of those
immigrants and ensure they are afforded equal protection under the
laws of the United States, including safe and unobstructed passage to
federal immigration processing facilities, medical care, and
education, as well as access to a mode of communication that can help
facilitate their repatriation back to Central America when doing so
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.