title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
URGING THE U.S. CONGRESS TO PROVIDE EMERGENCY LEGISLATION TO PREVENT THE DEPORTATION OF RECIPIENTS OF DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS (DACA) AND TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS (TPS) TO STABILIZE THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIO-EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING OF IMPACTED YOUTH AND THEIR FAMILIES
WHEREAS, the separation of children from their parents is a violation of the human rights; and
WHEREAS, the rights of children should be protected so that they stay with their families; this is a core value of the democratic ideals of this country; and
WHEREAS, the current situation is forcing many U.S. citizen children to leave their communities and struggle to begin anew in their parents’ countries of origin. Often, they are placed in situations in which their rights as U.S. citizens are denied as well as their universal rights as children; and
WHEREAS, the five million U.S. citizen children and two million children brought to this nation as infants, and raised here among U.S. citizens, should not be deprived of the sacred right to family and parental guidance and support upon unnecessary separation; and
WHEREAS, President Obama issued executive orders which provided the deferral of deportation and the provision of work authorization for undocumented individuals brought to this country as minors and further established the practice of prosecutorial discretion to defer deportations until the Congress could arrive at a permanent solution; and
WHEREAS, in spite of the continuing threat of injustice to children, the current administration has cancelled those practices without Congress having established any alternative; and
WHEREAS, these provisions represented a just and much needed temporary relief and should be maintained by act of Congress; and
WHEREAS, the children of those undocumented individuals are being forced every day to endure the unimaginable pain and damage of family separation or deportation; and
WHEREAS, parents with U.S. citizen children who were given protected status through prosecutorial discretion and who reported regularly to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as they were required were among the first to be deported under this administration; and
WHEREAS, there has been a 250% increase over the last year in deportations of those with no criminal records, most of which have families and children, with the likelihood that these numbers will continue to increase; and
WHEREAS, at least 325,000 Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, Hondurans, and Haitians have lived in this country for many years and have established families with 273,000 U.S. born citizen children, as well as other children brought here at an early age who have known no other country, now face the cancellation of TPS and are being deported; and
WHEREAS, the psychological, educational, health, and economic effects of separation from their parents have long-term effects on a child’s quality-of-life.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Cook County Board President and the Cook County Board of Commissioners resolve this day that Congress should pass legislation that provides the right to visas for the undocumented parents of U.S. citizen children or DACA eligible children, and of TPS-recipient parents with U.S. citizen children or DACA-eligible children; and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED, that these Visas should be renewable every three years on proof of the continued verification of the original conditions of issue; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners urge our congressional representatives to pass such legislation with all deliberate speed to immediately stop this violation of the human rights of children and their rights as U.S. citizens.
end