Amended in Assembly August 14, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

House Resolution No. 51

Introduced by Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez

August 4, 2014

House Resolution No. 51—Relative to immigration.

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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WHEREAS, In accordance with the William Wilberforce
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, the
United States must ensure that these unaccompanied children have
access to due process, lawyers, a judge, and justice; and

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the
Assembly declares that begin delete the residents of California, end delete begin insert all Californians, end insert
as residents of the United States, have a begin delete duty end delete begin insert civic responsibility end insert
to respect the human dignity of begin delete those end delete immigrants begin insert seeking refuge
in the United States end insert and begin insert to end insert ensure begin delete they end delete begin insert that those immigrants end insert are
afforded begin insert due process and end insert equal protection under the laws of the
United States, including safe begin delete and unobstructed end delete passage to begin delete federal
immigration processing facilities, end delete medical care, begin delete and education, end delete as
well as access to a mode of communication begin delete that can help end delete begin insert to end insert
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.