BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SR 89|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SR 89
Author: Lara (D)
Introduced:8/30/16
Vote: Majority
SUBJECT: Immigrant children
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This resolution urges the federal government to take
action to remedy this injury to the State of California, through
appropriate measures within the United States Department of
Justice, the United States Department of Homeland Security, and
the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and ensure that immigrant
children are afforded due process under the law when they are
fighting to remain in the United States of America, by providing
government-funded attorneys, trained in immigration law, to all
indigent children fighting deportation and seeking an
immigration remedy. This resolution urges the federal
government to rearrange its dockets to first hear the cases of
children who have legal representation and to immediately halt
cases it is pursuing 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 United States 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.
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Page 2
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,
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 United States in
search of asylum.
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 to the United States Constitution 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)There are currently over 13,800 children in California who are
not represented by legal counsel in immigration court; and
California has a duty to protect the welfare of children
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Page 3
within our state, including immigrant children.
8)California values immigrant children and has made this clear
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.
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 take action to
remedy this injury to the State of California, through
appropriate measures within the United States Department of
Justice, the United States Department of Homeland Security, and
the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and ensure that immigrant
children are afforded due process under the law when they are
fighting to remain in the United States of America, by providing
government-funded attorneys, trained in immigration law, to all
indigent children fighting deportation and seeking an
immigration remedy. This resolution urges the federal
government to rearrange its dockets to first hear the cases of
children who have legal representation and to immediately halt
cases it is pursuing against unrepresented immigrant children
until lawyers are made available to represent them.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Unable to verify at time of writing)
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None received
OPPOSITION: (Unable to verify at time of writing)
None received
Prepared by: Karen Chow / SFA / (916) 651-1520
8/31/16 13:37:17
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