PRINTER'S NO. 3823
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
1000
Session of
2018
INTRODUCED BY TAI, VAZQUEZ, GAINEY, STURLA, BRIGGS, NEILSON,
SIMS, SCHLOSSBERG, HARKINS, A. DAVIS, FRANKEL, KINSEY,
BULLOCK, DEAN, DERMODY, LONGIETTI, BOYLE, RABB, DeLUCA,
DAVIS, KRUEGER-BRANEKY, DALEY, CEPHAS, DONATUCCI, FABRIZIO,
COMITTA, FITZGERALD, CARROLL, DAVIDSON, MADDEN, FREEMAN,
DeLISSIO, WARREN, DAWKINS, GALLOWAY, ROE, KIM, CALTAGIRONE,
KORTZ, SCHWEYER, J. McNEILL, YOUNGBLOOD, D. MILLER,
PASHINSKI, M. QUINN, RAVENSTAHL, WHEATLEY, DEASY, HILL-EVANS,
O'BRIEN, SAMUELSON, ROEBUCK AND DRISCOLL, JUNE 25, 2018
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, JUNE 25, 2018
A RESOLUTION
Urging the President of the United States to immediately reverse
the administration's zero-tolerance, family-separation
immigration policy which has led to the removal of more than
2,000 migrant children from their parents' care and custody
from April to May 2018.
WHEREAS, In April 2018, United States Attorney General Jeff
Sessions announced a zero-tolerance policy for individuals
immigrating into the United States illegally along the southern
border of the country; and
WHEREAS, The policy set forth by the Department of Justice
criminally prosecutes individuals entering the United States,
many of whom are seeking asylum, and holds them in Federal
prisons to await deportation proceedings while sending their
children to facilities maintained by the Department of Health
and Human Services; and
WHEREAS, As of June 2018, nearly 12,000 migrant children,
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some as young as 18 months old, who have had their greatest
fears of parental separation become reality, are being held in
Health and Human Services facilities scattered throughout 17
states; and
WHEREAS, Several of the facilities house groups of children
in cages built from metal fencing with little more than blankets
made of foil sheets, compelling them to care for one another;
and
WHEREAS, The facilities maintained by the Department of
Health and Human Services are nearing full capacity, leading the
department to consider the establishment of outdoor tent cities
on military bases to accommodate the increasing number of
unaccompanied children; and
WHEREAS, The living conditions that these children are being
forced to endure due to the administration's irresponsible
immigration policy are inhumane and heartless; and
WHEREAS, The American Academy of Pediatrics has warned that
the deeply traumatic separation of child and parent may cause
irreparable harm to a child's psychological and physical health
as toxic stress may lead to inefficient or ineffective brain
development as well as long-term medical problems; and
WHEREAS, The administration's immigration policy not only
presents a moral and humanitarian crisis, but is also contrary
to the principles that this nation was built upon; and
WHEREAS, Abusing the basic human rights of innocent children
as political leverage to gain meaningful immigration policy
reform is an abhorrent tactic and should be ceased immediately;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the President of the United
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States to immediately reverse the administration's zero-
tolerance, family-separation immigration policy which has led to
the removal of more than 2,000 migrant children from their
parents' care and custody from April to May 2018; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recognize the importance of family
and actively support policies keeping children with their
parents as they come to the United States; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
the President of the United States.
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