Bill Text: CA AJR11 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Chaptered


Bill Title: Immigration: Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals: Deferred Enforced Departure: Temporary Protected Status.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 60-1)

Status: (Passed) 2019-08-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 136, Statutes of 2019. [AJR11 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AJR11-Chaptered.html

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 11
CHAPTER 136

Relative to immigration.

[ Filed with Secretary of State  August 27, 2019. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AJR 11, Carrillo. Immigration: Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals: Deferred Enforced Departure: Temporary Protected Status.
This measure would urge the President and the Congress of the United States to enact legislation to provide permanent legal status and a path to citizenship for immigrant youths and individuals with Deferred Enforced Departure and Temporary Protected Status.
Fiscal Committee: NO  

WHEREAS, United States Congressional efforts to provide permanent legal status for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children have been pending in the Congress of the United States since 2001, with the introduction of bipartisan legislation entitled the Immigrant Children’s Educational Advancement and Dropout Prevention Act of 2001; and
WHEREAS, Congress has introduced subsequent legislation attempting to achieve the same goal, including the Student Adjustment Act of 2001, and, in various iterations, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act; and
WHEREAS, Since its original introduction, the DREAM Act has aimed to provide a multiphase process for qualifying undocumented immigrant youths to seek conditional residency status and a path to citizenship. The requirements to qualify for that relief have changed throughout time and various provisions have expanded with each reintroduction to ensure that most undocumented youths are covered; and
WHEREAS, The DREAM Act has been debated and brought to Congress for votes as a stand-alone bill. The Act has also been incorporated into other immigration-related bills, including the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007; and
WHEREAS, Due to the unwillingness of Congress to pass a legislative solution to protect immigrant youths, President Barack Obama issued a memorandum on June 15, 2012, that created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, putting a stop to the deportation of undocumented immigrant youths who matched certain criteria included in the most recent proposed DREAM Act bills; and
WHEREAS, California has, by far, the largest number of potential beneficiaries under the DREAM Act, with 553,000 individuals, or 26 percent of potential beneficiaries. California also has the largest population of youths currently protected under DACA at approximately 200,000 individuals; and
WHEREAS, On September 5, 2017, under the Trump Administration, then Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke rescinded the 2012 DACA memorandum and announced that the program would undergo a wind down phase. The rescission became effective immediately and eliminated the opportunity to submit new DACA applications; and
WHEREAS, President Trump’s decision to terminate the DACA program was followed by multiple lawsuits challenging that decision; and
WHEREAS, The Trump Administration’s decisions affecting immigrants have also impacted immigrants receiving Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and immigrants with Temporary Protected Status (TPS); and
WHEREAS, The DED program, formerly known as Extended Voluntary Departure, was first established through an exercise of executive authority in 1960. DED is used at the President’s discretion to grant nationals of foreign countries a stay of removal, typically in response to war, civil unrest, or natural disasters. Currently, Liberia is under DED designation; and
WHEREAS, President Trump initially directed that the DED designation for Liberia be ended on March 31, 2019, later extended to March 31, 2020; and
WHEREAS, The TPS program was established by Congress though the Immigration Act of 1990. Under existing law, the Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a foreign country for TPS if the country is experiencing ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster or epidemic, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions that may prevent nationals of that country from returning home safely. Currently, there are a total of 10 countries under the TPS designation; and
WHEREAS, The termination of TPS designations for countries that remain unstable has left individuals with TPS in limbo and with their futures unknown to them; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 436,866 individuals with TPS live in the United States. The largest group, consisting of approximately 80,636 individuals, is located in California; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the President and the Congress of the United States to enact legislation to provide permanent legal status and a path to citizenship for immigrant youths and individuals with DED and TPS; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and the Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.
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