Senate Resolution No. 50

Introduced by Senators De León, Allen, Beall, Block, Hall, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Lara, Leyva, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, and Pavley

September 4, 2015

Senate Resolution No. 50—Relative to California-Mexico relations.

WHEREAS, On July 29, 2015, Senator Kevin De León, in his
position of President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate,
signed a letter of cooperation with Luis Miguel Gerónimo Barbosa
Huerta, President of the Senate of the Honorable Congress of
Mexico, setting forth their mutual intent to establish ongoing
mechanisms for collaboration to tackle shared problems and needs
between Mexico and California in appreciation of their
governments’ historical bonds and rising commercial exchanges;
and

WHEREAS, No fewer than 11.5 million individuals of Mexican
origin live in California and have been benefited from state laws
sharing various benefits of life in California, including, but not
limited to, education, health, legal assistance, and the issuance of
state driver’s licenses and professional work licenses, regardless
of the documented status of those individuals; and

WHEREAS, In recent years, the rising number of Mexicans
deported from the United States of America to Mexico has led to
grave consequences for vulnerable populations, including, among
others, minors born in the United States of America who face
barriers accessing the child welfare and education systems without
their parents; and

WHEREAS, The governments of California and Mexico are
actively handling the challenge of ensuring that minors impacted
by their parents’ return to Mexico are expeditiously placed in
schools under the best circumstances possible; and

WHEREAS, A rising number of studies conducted by both the
federal government of the United States of America and Mexico
focus on better understanding the barriers to the reinsertion of
migrant minors and young people into the school system and
propose solutions to ensure educational opportunities for this
vulnerable population; and

WHEREAS, Climate change and air pollution cause severe harm
to public health and the environment, and these effects equally
flow between the borders of Mexico, California, and the rest of
the United States of America; and

WHEREAS, The economic benefits and job creation resulting
from the development and use of clean energy and energy efficient
machinery have been proven by experts at the University of
California and the National Autonomous University of Mexico;
and

WHEREAS, California and Mexico are rich in clean energy and
resources that help mitigate climate change, including, among
others, wind and solar energy; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate
agrees to cooperate with its best efforts to encourage between the
Senate and the government of Mexico all of the following:

(a) Sharing methods to measure the scope of the problems faced
by minors who, because they are migrants, do not have access to
education.

(b) Sharing success stories regarding reinsertion of migrant
minors into the school system.

(c) Promoting the importance of safeguarding biculturalism as
a value that contributes to the formation of human capital.

(d) Providing psychological and emotional support and other
necessary services to migrant minors.

(e) Producing programs to train bilingual teachers.

(f) Updating mechanisms for bilingual cooperation, including,
among others, the Binational Migrant Education Program,
“PROBEM,” and the Binational Migrant Education Teacher
Exchange Program.

(g) Exchanging information on public health, the environment,
the economy in the border region, and the regional impacts of
climate change, air pollution, and other important effects of
greenhouse gases.

(h) Establishing and coordinating technological exchanges
regarding clean energy and fuels, improved energy efficiency, and
other key elements of programs promoting the reduction of
greenhouse gas effects and increasing investment in clean energy.

(i) Promoting partnerships to expand and deepen regional
cooperation for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas effects
and pollution.

(j) Encouraging academic cooperation and the exchange of
information to better document the impact of climate change and
the actions needed to adapt to this impact on both sides of the
border.

(k) Promoting crossborder investment to increase the use of
clean energy and cleaner transportation options.

(l) Recommending legislation, in both California and Mexico,
to address the circumstances described in this resolution; and be
it further

Resolved, That the Senate shall actively participate in meetings
with the government of Mexico for the purpose of presenting and
discussing programs, projects, and legislation addressing the
circumstances described in this resolution by designating
representatives of the Senate to attend those meetings and report
the resulting recommendations to the Senate; and be it further

Resolved, That the President Pro Tempore of the Senate may
select the Senators who will attend meetings with the government
of Mexico and report the results to the Senate; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.