BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SJR 28|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SJR 28
Author: Lara (D), et al.
Introduced:8/23/16
Vote: 21
SUBJECT: Immigrant children: legal representation
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This resolution urges the federal government to ensure
that immigrant children are afforded due process under the law
in removal proceedings by providing government-funded attorneys,
trained in immigration law, to all indigent children seeking an
immigration remedy; and urges the federal government to first
hear cases involving children that have legal counsel and to
immediately halt cases brought against unrepresented immigrant
children until lawyers are made available to represent them.
ANALYSIS: This resolution makes the following legislative
findings:
1) The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that a
person shall not be deprived of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law, thereby ensuring that he or she
will receive a fundamentally fair, orderly, and just judicial
proceeding before being deprived of his or her freedom.
2) Due process cannot be guaranteed in an adversarial
immigration removal proceeding without legal representation.
3) Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
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adopted in 1948, states that "Everyone has the right to seek
and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution."
Accordingly, children escaping from violence in other
countries, whether unaccompanied or accompanied by a parent,
are not "illegal" when they come to the U.S. in search of
asylum. The protections of Article 14 have been incorporated
by Congress into domestic law, which now protects all asylum
seekers, including children, by prohibiting the federal
government from returning to their home countries persons who
have fled persecution due to race, religion, nationality,
political opinion, or membership in a particular social
group.
4) It is our nation's legal and moral obligation to open our
arms to children who fear harm in their country of origin and
to foreign-born children in the United States who cannot be
reunified with one or both parents due to abuse, neglect, or
abandonment and who are therefore eligible for Special
Immigrant Juvenile Status or any other immigration remedy.
5) Respect for due process requires that all indigent children
seeking asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, or other
immigration remedies in defense of deportation be afforded
government-funded competent immigration counsel.
6) The federal government is denying indigent immigrant
children in California their rights to a fair trial under the
Fifth Amendment because the federal government does not
provide these children with legal representation in
immigration court. These children therefore face the threat
of deportation to violent and dangerous conditions where they
may face persecution, violence, or even death.
7) California has a duty to protect the welfare of children
within our state, including immigrant children.
8) California values immigrant children and has made this clear
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through legislative enactments, including AB 540 (2001), AB
130 and AB 131 (2011), commonly referred to as the California
Dream Act, SB 1064 (2012), SB 873 (2014), commonly referred
to as the Unaccompanied Minors Program, SB 1210 (2014),
commonly referred to as the California DREAM Loan Program,
and SB 4 and SB 75 (2015), commonly referred to as the
Health4All Kids Act. California passed SB 873 (2014) and AB
900 (2015) to ensure that California courts issue the
predicate orders necessary for children to apply for Special
Immigrant Juvenile Status.
9) California has a strong interest in ensuring that the
children living in this state are not unfairly deported.
Schools are disrupted when children are pulled from classes,
communities are thrown into disorder when families are torn
apart, the health and welfare of these children are put at
risk, and the state is denied the potential societal and
economic contributions of these children.
This resolution urges the federal government to ensure that
immigrant children are afforded due process under the law in
removal proceedings by providing government-funded attorneys,
trained in immigration law, to all indigent children seeking an
immigration remedy; and urges the federal government to first
hear cases involving children that have legal counsel and to
immediately halt cases brought against unrepresented immigrant
children until lawyers are made available to represent them.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 8/24/16)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/24/16)
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None received
Prepared by: Melissa Ward / SFA / (916) 651-1520
8/25/16 12:30:07
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