Bill Text: CA SR8 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relative to asylum seekers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-25 - March 25 hearing canceled at the request of author. [SR8 Detail]
Download: California-2019-SR8-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Senate
March 18, 2019 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION
| Senate Resolution | No. 8 |
| Introduced by |
December 03, 2018 |
Relative to asylum seekers.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SR 8, as amended, Lara
Digest Key
Bill Text
WHEREAS, The act of receiving and sheltering those in need of refuge from persecution abroad represents the practical embodiment of the fundamental moral command to treat others as one would wish to be treated; and
WHEREAS, There is no darker stain on the moral character of our nation’s refugee history than the refusal to accept hundreds of German Jews who, in 1939, sought to escape the Third Reich; and
WHEREAS, Nine hundred thirty-seven mostly German Jews boarded the transatlantic ocean liner St. Louis at Hamburg, Germany, but the ship was refused permission to dock in Cuba and then in the United States; and
WHEREAS, The St. Louis returned to Europe, where 254 of its passengers were murdered during the Holocaust; and
WHEREAS, Our nation’s subsequent commitment not to repeat this tragic moral failure led to the enactment of federal laws that protect all asylum seekers by prohibiting the federal government from returning to their home countries people who have fled persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group (8 U.S.C. Sec. Secs. 1101(a)(42)(A) and (8 U.S.C. Sec. 1231(b)(3)); and
WHEREAS, These federal laws also reflect our nation’s obligations under existing international humanitarian law, which provides for the protection of people who have fled persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group (United Nations General Assembly, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Dec. 10, 1948, 217A(III), Art. 14.); and
WHEREAS, California is among the nation’s leading recipients of refugees and asylum-seekers; and
WHEREAS, California takes tremendous pride in providing welcome, support, healing, and an opportunity to live anew in peace to those immigrants; and
WHEREAS, By contrast, the Trump administration has deliberately and unlawfully undertaken a series of policy changes, and erected practical barriers, designed to prevent people seeking refuge in the United States from having the opportunity to plead their legal case for asylum; and
WHEREAS, Many of these policies and barriers violate federal and international human rights law; and
WHEREAS, For example, the Honorable Judge Jon S. Tigar of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California recently blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to unlawfully prevent people from requesting asylum unless they presented themselves at an official port of entry, where Customs and Border Protection under President Trump now makes people wait for weeks under dangerous conditions and without decent shelter. Judge Tigar wrote that the President “may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden”; and
WHEREAS, The federal government nonetheless continues to restrict people seeking asylum from presenting themselves at ports of entry; and
WHEREAS, The federal government has fired rubber bullets and toxic gases at immigrant men, women, and children seeking access to the border in order to make a claim for asylum; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate of the State of California condemns the federal government’s failure to meet its obligations to those seeking asylum under international law and the federal Immigration and Nationality Act; and be it further
Resolved, That the Senate calls upon the federal government to comply fully with its humanitarian duty, and its obligations under law, by removing all barriers that prevent people seeking refuge in the United States from obtaining a prompt and fair initial evaluation of their claim for asylum; and be it further
Resolved, That the Senate condemns the disproportionate and unnecessary use of rubber bullets and toxic gases against unarmed and largely peaceful civilians who are merely seeking access to apply for refuge; and be it further
Resolved, That the Senate commends the attorneys at the border who volunteer their time and services to ensure that the asylum seekers’ legal right to enter California is respected by the federal government; and be it further
Resolved, That the Senate commends the humanitarian volunteers at the border who volunteer their time and services to ensure that the asylum seekers are fed, clothed, housed, and kept safe; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.
