RESOLUTJON IN SUPPORT OF A MORATORIUM ON DEPORTATION OF PARENTS WITH CITIZEN
CHILDREN
WHEREAS, More than five million children under the age of 18 have one or more undocumented parents in the United States. Thousands of these youths reside within this city's borders; and
WHEREAS, It is estimated that approximately 80% of these children are themselves United States citizens. The rest are either legal permanent residents or young people who were brought to this nation by a parent or guardian; and
WHEREAS, Many of these mixed-status families include one spouse who is a citizen or legal permanent resident. Thus, the deportation of an undocumented spouse threatens the very bonds of marriage and the covenant made between two people to raise children in love and commitment; and
WHEREAS, Their minor children will be a significant sector of the citizenry and workforce of this nation. However, merely through the accident of birth, they suffer a lack of equal access to education, health care and full participation in activities that prepare other young people for citizenship and work and, as such, is particularly detrimental to the commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, By all indications, undocumented parents of children who have citizenship or potential "Dream Act" status will not leave the United States voluntarily, thus perpetuating a life of chronic legal jeopardy. However, in spite of the difficulties, these mixed status families have a much higher percentage of stable two person head of families than the national average; and
WHEREAS, The specter of U.S. citizen children being de facto deported with their undocumented parents, being raised in another country and then returning to this country to reclaim their rights as citizens without having had adequate educational opportunities, will create a permanent underclass in this country; and
WHEREAS, It is incumbent upon this body to recognize the fundamental right to be raised with the love and support of a unified family without the chronic threat of deportation. Without this right, these 5 million young people will be denied the dignity and equal protection under the law afforded to their peers; and
WHEREAS, This nation has recognized the injustice of separating families and denying children the right to family through redressing the mistreatment of indigenous populations and in the institution of slavery through legislating measures to alleviate the consequences of these historical violations of basic human rights; and
WHEREAS, The right to family for citizen children is currently being litigated in the Federal Courts of the United States and is thus an unresolved issue; and
WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States has failed to find a solution to the status of 11 million undocumented persons. A solution is need for the undocumented and their families due to the nation's permissive exploitation of undocumented labor for decades; and
WHEREAS, The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has petitioned the President of the United States to impose a moratorium on deportations that separate families until such time as the Congress is able to pass legislation that fixes the current immigration system; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Homeland Security has provided the President with a memorandum outlining his powers to alleviate the crisis faced by the five million children with undocumented parents through administrative action; and
WHEREAS, This body has debated this issue and has previously gone on record in support of a moratorium that prevents the separation of families; now therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Mayor and members of the City of Chicago City Council gathered here this 13lh Day of January, 2011 AD, do hereby call for the President of the United States to use his executive powers to
immediately stop the deportations of the parents of the estimated 5.1 million "'citizen children" and Dream Act-eligible children in order to afford these children fundamental human rights and equal rights under the law.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a suitable copy of this resolution be prepared and presented to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States.