Regular Session 2017-2018 House Resolution 0491 P.N. 2395

PRINTER'S NO. 2395

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

No.

491

Session of

2017

INTRODUCED BY CRUZ, VAZQUEZ, SCHWEYER, YOUNGBLOOD, SCHLOSSBERG,

SOLOMON, J. HARRIS, FRANKEL, STURLA, V. BROWN, McCARTER,

DEAN, GAINEY, ROZZI, CALTAGIRONE, DONATUCCI AND ROEBUCK,

SEPTEMBER 12, 2017

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, SEPTEMBER 12, 2017

A RESOLUTION

Condemning the decision by the Trump Administration to end the

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program and

urging the Congress of the United States to act by passing

the Dream Act of 2017.

WHEREAS, Clause 4 of section 8 of Article I of the

Constitution of the United States expressly provides the

Congress of the United States with the power to establish a

uniform Rule of Naturalization; and

WHEREAS, Since the first naturalization act was enacted in

1790, dozens of immigration and naturalization laws have been

enacted by Congress; and

WHEREAS, The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of

1986 (Public Law 99-603, 100 Stat. 3359), signed into law by

President Ronald Reagan, was the first comprehensive immigration

and naturalization law enacted by Congress to deter and control

illegal immigration; and

WHEREAS, As part of IRCA, 2.7 million immigrants were awarded

green cards after meeting certain criteria in the largest alien

legalization program in United States history; and

WHEREAS, In response to failed congressional efforts to pass

legislation to protect immediate family members who did not meet

the criteria for amnesty, President Reagan's Immigration and

Naturalization Service (INS) commissioner announced in 1987 that

minor children of parents granted amnesty by IRCA would be

protected from deportation; and

WHEREAS, When legislation to broaden legal status passed the

United States Senate but stalled in the House in 1989, President

H.W. Bush advanced a "family fairness" policy through the INS to

protect immediate family members from deportation; and

WHEREAS, Through the "family fairness" policy and by signing

the Immigration Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-649, Stat. 4978),

President H.W. Bush protected approximately 1.5 million, or 40%,

of illegal immigrants living in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Other than a couple of immigration statutes focused

on enforcement enacted by Congress since the Immigration Act of

1990, including the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant

Responsibility Act of 1996 (Division C of the act of September

30, 1996, Public Law 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009-546), no major

immigration reform legislation has been enacted in almost 30

years; and

WHEREAS, Since 2001, some form of the Development, Relief,

and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which would create a

multiphase process for qualifying immigrant minors that would

first grant conditional then permanent residency upon meeting

specific qualifications, has been introduced in Congress; and

WHEREAS, In June 2012, President Barack Obama announced an

immigration policy change, known as the Deferred Action for

Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as a compromise between the Obama

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Administration and Congress after the DREAM Act of 2011 failed;

and

WHEREAS, DACA allowed the Department of Homeland Security to

exercise prosecutorial discretion on immigration cases regarding

the deportation of individuals who were brought to the United

States illegally as children; and

WHEREAS, The criteria for the individuals, known as

"Dreamers," to qualify for DACA was similar to the DREAM Act and

included being an immigrant who, in 2012, was between 16 and 30

years of age, came to the United States as a child, had no

criminal record and had lived continuously in the country for at

least the past five years; and

WHEREAS, If Dreamers met the criteria under DACA, applied for

deferred action and underwent a background check and

fingerprinting, then a two-year authorization was granted during

which the Department of Homeland Security would exercise its

prosecutorial discretion and not deport them; and

WHEREAS, Unlike the DREAM Act, DACA did not confer legal

status to any immigrant, because only Congress, through its

legislative authority, can constitutionally do so; and

WHEREAS, Since DACA has been implemented, almost 800,000

individuals have applied and been approved for deferred action,

including nearly 6,000 Pennsylvanians; and

WHEREAS, More than three-quarters of DACA applicants are from

Mexico, with the remaining from El Salvador, Guatemala,

Honduras, Peru, Brazil, South Korea and the Philippines; and

WHEREAS, On September 5, 2017, The Trump Administration

announced the end of the DACA program by March 5, 2018, and

called on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform; and

WHEREAS, Ending DACA and deporting Dreamers, while within

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Executive power, is not legally required, but is a political

maneuver that will not help the United States economy, lower

unemployment rates, lessen tax burdens or raise wages; and

WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has joined 14 other

states and the District of Columbia in a lawsuit against the

Trump Administration to block the DACA termination on the

grounds that the administration violated the Constitution's due

process and equal protection clauses; and

WHEREAS, Deporting current DACA beneficiaries would deprive

the United States of more than $60 billion in tax revenue and

$280 billion of economic growth over the next 10 years; and

WHEREAS, In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania alone, 87% of

the nearly 6,000 DACA beneficiaries are employed and generate

more than $20 million in State and local taxes; and

WHEREAS, The Dreamers covered by DACA are in the United

States through no fault of their own and pose no threat to the

citizens of this country; and

WHEREAS, Ending DACA without a replacement program is

detrimental to the almost 800,000 individuals who will be

adversely affected and is generally a poor policy decision; and

WHEREAS, If Congress does not act and DACA begins to expire,

nearly 300,000 people will begin to lose deferred status in 2018

and more than 320,000 would lose the status in 2019; and

WHEREAS, Several immigration reform bills, introduced by both

Democrats and Republicans, and pending action in Congress should

immediately be considered; and

WHEREAS, Legislation introduced has bipartisan support and

includes, the Recognizing America's Children (RAC) Act (H.R.

1468) sponsored by Congressman Carlos Curbelo, R-FL, the

American Hope Act of 2017 (H.R. 3591) sponsored by Congressman

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Luis Gutierrez, D-IL, the Bar Removal of Individual who Dream

and Grow our Economy (BRIDGE) Act (H.R. 496) sponsored by

Congressman Mike Coffman, R-CO, and the DREAM Act of 2017 (S.

1615) sponsored by Senator Lindsey Graham, R-SC; and

WHEREAS, The Dream Act of 2017 is similar to previous

introductions of the Dream Act, has many of the protections DACA

had in place and creates a path for citizenship or permanent

legal resident status; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania condemn the decision by the Trump

Administration to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

(DACA) Program; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Congress of the United

States to act by passing the Dream Act of 2017 (S. 1615)

sponsored by Senator Lindsey Graham, R-SC; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be sent to the

President of the United States, to the presiding officers of

each house of Congress and to each member of Congress from

Pennsylvania.

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