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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, On June 20, 2018, President Donald J. Trump signed |
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an executive order designed to quell mounting public outrage over |
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the family separation crisis at the U.S./Mexico border, but the |
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administration's Zero Tolerance Policy on immigration continues to |
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harm children; and |
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WHEREAS, The Zero Tolerance Policy was introduced in April |
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2018, when the U.S. attorney general directed federal prosecutors |
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along the southwestern border to criminally prosecute all |
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immigrants entering the country without authorization, regardless |
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of whether they were seeking asylum or refugee status; parents |
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apprehended at the border were arrested and jailed, while their |
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minor children, including babies and toddlers too young to talk, |
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were taken from them by the Border Patrol and eventually dispatched |
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to Department of Health and Human Services shelters, many of them |
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thousands of miles away; and |
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WHEREAS, Across the country and around the world, people |
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reacted with horror at images and news reports of distraught |
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children and grieving parents; medical professionals warned that |
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children could suffer lasting psychological trauma, and in a |
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Washington Post op-ed, former first lady Laura Bush decried the |
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Zero Tolerance Policy as "cruel" and "immoral"; after President |
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Trump issued his executive order halting the practice of family |
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separation, a federal court ordered the government to reunite |
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nearly 3,000 migrant children and their parents within 30 days, but |
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the process was greatly complicated by shoddy recordkeeping during |
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the hasty implementation of the Zero Tolerance Policy; more than |
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three months later, over 100 minors remained in federal custody; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, On September 27, 2018, the Department of Homeland |
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Security Office of Inspector General issued an initial report on |
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family separation issues under the Zero Tolerance Policy; it |
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revealed a chaotic interagency process that did not establish a |
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means to track the identity of preverbal children in government |
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custody; moreover, it found that at least 860 migrant children had |
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been left in austere Border Patrol holding cells for longer than the |
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legal limit of 72 hours; and |
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WHEREAS, Although the family separation measures ended, |
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older youths have continued to cross the border on their own in |
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search of a better life, and immigration policies still in place |
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have driven the overall number of unaccompanied minors in detention |
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to record levels; in September 2018, the New York Times reported |
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that the migrant youth population at federally contracted shelters |
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had more than quintupled in a year, to over 13,000, as unaccompanied |
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minors spend longer periods in custody; Department of Health and |
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Human Services data suggests that the rise is due to increasingly |
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stringent regulations and heightened fears of deportation, which |
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discourage relatives and family friends from coming forward as |
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sponsors for these children; as a result, shelters have hovered |
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near 90 percent capacity, and in early September, the |
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administration announced the tripling of its temporary "tent city" |
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for children in Tornillo; such shelters are far more costly than |
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traditional shelters, and they offer neither education nor mental |
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health services, nor are they regulated by state child welfare |
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authorities, as are permanent shelters; protracted stays in such |
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facilities risk deepening the trauma already suffered by these |
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youngsters; and |
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WHEREAS, The economic cost of expanded detention is not |
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inconsiderable; internal documents from the Department of Health |
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and Human Services reveal that more than $260 million has been |
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reallocated to the program, taking funding away from such essential |
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services as the National Cancer Institute, the National Institutes |
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of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; |
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another $200 million has been redirected within the Department of |
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Homeland Security to the aggressive immigration enforcement agenda |
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from FEMA, the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, the |
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U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, |
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cybersecurity, the Transportation Security Administration, and |
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other departments; and |
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WHEREAS, While the crisis among migrant youths has unfolded, |
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the Trump administration has worked to circumvent long-standing |
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legal time limits on their detention; such constraints were imposed |
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by the court in the 1997 Flores Agreement, a consent decree stemming |
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from a class action lawsuit over the physical and emotional harm |
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suffered by children confined in jail-like settings; a judge |
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rejected the administration's request to suspend the Flores |
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Agreement in July 2018, but the administration is currently seeking |
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approval to withdraw from the consent decree and replace it with a |
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new agreement with looser restrictions; and |
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WHEREAS, The Zero Tolerance Policy has exacted a terrible |
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human toll and significant economic costs, causing hardship and |
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heartbreak while draining resources from agencies and programs that |
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protect Americans and improve their lives; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
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Legislature hereby respectfully urge the president of the United |
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States to end the Zero Tolerance Policy in regards to immigration |
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and to uphold the important provisions of the Flores Agreement; |
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and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the chief clerk forward an official copy of |
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this resolution to the president as an expression of sentiment by |
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the Texas House of Representatives. |