A RESOLUTION CALLING ON PRESIDENT OBAMA TO IMPOSE A MORATORIUM ON DEPORTATIONS THAT SEPARATE FAMILIES WITH U.S. CITIZEN OR DREAM ACT
ELIGIBLE CHILDREN
Whereas, there are over five million children under the age of 18 who have one or more undocumented parents in the United States, thousands of whom reside in the City of Chicago;
And, WHEREAS, 80% of these are U.S. citizens and the remaining are legal permanent residents or young people brought to this nation as children;
And, WHEREAS, many of these mixed status families include one spouse who is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident so that the deportation of a spouse threatens the very bonds of marriage and the covenant made between two people to raise these children in love and commitment;
And, WHEREAS, these young people suffer lack of access to childcare centers, equal educational opportunities, health care, adequate housing and employment training because of the status of their parents and are more likely to live in poverty than other children;
And, WHEREAS, these children represent a significant sector of the future citizenry and workforce of the United States and their lack of equal access to education, health care and full participation in activities that prepare other young people for citizenship and work is harmful to the progress of the nation;
And, WHEREAS, it is now indicated that undocumented persons with U.S. citizen or Dream Act eligible children are not likely to voluntarily leave this nation, perpetuating a life in the shadows for these young people and, moreover, that 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, 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, we recognize and uphold the right to be raised with the love and support of a unified family as a fundamental human right, without the constant fear that that family will be taken from you, without which right these five million young people are denied the human rights, dignity and equal protection under the law afforded their peers;
And, WHEREAS, the United States has recognized the injustice of separating families and denying children the Right to Family in both the mistreatment of indigenous populations and in the institution of slavery and has legislated measures to alleviate the consequences of these our historical violations of basic human rights;
And, WHEREAS, the Right to Family of U.S. citizen children is currently being litigated in the Federal Courts of the United States, and is therefore an unresolved issue;
And, WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States has as yet failed to resolve and find a solution to the status of 11 million undocumented persons and their mixed status families,
brought about by the nation's permissive exploitation of undocumented labor for decades, a permissive exploitation which allowed the United States to remain competitive in the global economy and which retained businesses that otherwise would have collapsed or moved out of the country, and which provided substantial support to this nation's troubled social security system;
And, WHEREAS, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has petitioned the President ofthe United States to impose a moratorium on deportations that separate families until such time as the Congress is able to pass legislation that fixes our broken 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 actions;
And, WHEREAS, three undocumented youth, all who grew up in the United States, crossed the border into Mexico, and have been detained at the border while attempting to return home to the United States with six other deportees, known as the DREAM 9, to reunite with their families on Monday June 22, 2013 to highlight the injustice of 1.7 million deportations, family separations, and the right of those deported to reunite with their families,
And, WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council of Chicago have debated this issue and have gone on record in support ofa moratorium that prevents the separation of families;
And, Whereas, since the passing of this resolution a majority consensus in the nation to stop these massive and unjust deportations has been demonstrated in various ways, and a proposed bipartisan bill for comprehensive immigration reform has been passed in the U.S. Senate;
And, Whereas, Homeland Security has increased the practice of "silent workplace raids" by auditing the employment records of private and not for profit corporations, forcing out undocumented employees who, according to the proposal before the Senate, will have to show this very employment to qualify to legalize themselves and their families;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Mayor and City Council of Chicago, call on the President of the United States to use his executive powers to stop the deportations of the parents of the estimated 5.1 million U.S. citizen children or Dream Act eligible children IMMEDIATELY in order to afford these children fundamental human rights and equal rights under the law until the debate on immigration reform is resolved in Congress and a new bill is signed into law by the President;
AND THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Mayor and City Council of Chicago further calls on the President of the United States to extend the deferment application process now offered to "dreamers" to their parents and the parents of U.S. citizen children;
AND THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Mayor and the City Council of Chicago further calls on the President of the United States to bring home the DREAM 9 and to provide a pathway for the 1.7 million deported to reunite with their families;
AND THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Mayor and City Council of Chicago call on Homeland Security to suspend its practice of auditing employee records until the above mentioned debate on immigration reform is resolved and a bill signed into law;
AND THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Mayor and City Council of Chicago urges the members of both parties in the House of Representatives to develop and pass a bipartisan bill of their own so that the process of reconciliation with the Senate bill can go forward;
And, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be provided to the President of the United States and that a the citizen son of Elvira, Saul Arellano, will deliver the resolution on behalf of the Chicago City Council Latino Caucus to the White House on Wednesday July 24th, 2013.
Alderman Daniel S. Solis 25th Ward