Bill Text: TX HCR24 | 2017 | 85th Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging Congress to enact and fund comprehensive immigration reform that creates a road map to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, promotes economic growth, and strengthens national security.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-07-28 - Referred to State & Federal Power & Responsibility, Select [HCR24 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HCR24-Introduced.html
| 85S11919 KSM-D | ||
| By: Anchia | H.C.R. No. 24 | |
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| WHEREAS, In an increasingly complex global economy, | ||
| transnational labor mobility is crucial to the prosperity of the | ||
| United States, but our rigid, outmoded immigration policies are | ||
| making it difficult for the nation to compete; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The United States Congress last enacted major | ||
| immigration legislation more than a quarter-century ago; since that | ||
| time, piecemeal attempts at reform have failed to create the kind of | ||
| rational and effective system we need to maintain competitiveness, | ||
| whether in industries like agriculture, construction, and | ||
| manufacturing, which require large numbers of workers able to | ||
| perform physically demanding tasks, or in technology, where there | ||
| is increasing demand for employees with advanced degrees in math | ||
| and science; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Immigrants perform vital functions in a variety of | ||
| industries, and in Texas, they start nearly a third of the state's | ||
| new businesses; even unauthorized immigrants produce more in state | ||
| revenue than they receive in state services, according to a 2006 | ||
| study by the Office of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, | ||
| which estimated that their deportation would cause more than a six | ||
| percent decline in the workforce and nearly an $18 billion decline | ||
| in the gross state product; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The United States is home to millions of | ||
| unauthorized immigrants, including children brought to this | ||
| country illegally who have grown up here and know no home other than | ||
| the United States; a commonsense road map to earned legal status for | ||
| these residents would create additional tax revenue and stimulate | ||
| the economy by allowing them to open bank accounts, obtain college | ||
| degrees, buy homes, establish new American companies, and create | ||
| jobs; a study published by the Cato Institute estimated that a | ||
| complete overhaul of the immigration system would yield at least | ||
| $1.5 trillion in added U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years; | ||
| and | ||
| WHEREAS, A rational overhaul of the immigration system | ||
| requires a tough, fair, and practical program to address the status | ||
| of unauthorized immigrants, stopping real threats and contingent on | ||
| bringing accountability to border enforcement programs, providing | ||
| additional funding for border communities that bear a | ||
| disproportionate burden in the enforcement of immigration laws, and | ||
| addressing visa overstays; in order to protect all workers, whether | ||
| native or foreign-born, it must include an efficient and | ||
| transparent employment verification system that identifies | ||
| qualified candidates while penalizing employers who knowingly hire | ||
| unauthorized immigrants; federal policy must also be designed to | ||
| develop a guest worker program to respond to the future labor needs | ||
| of U.S. business by matching willing workers with willing American | ||
| employers; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Recognizing the characteristics that will help | ||
| build prosperity and strengthen our society, a commonsense road map | ||
| to earned legal status for unauthorized immigrants would encompass | ||
| a health and criminal background check, proof of a stable U.S. work | ||
| history and current employment, and payment of relevant fines and | ||
| taxes; to gain probationary legal status, individuals would be | ||
| further required to demonstrate knowledge of English and American | ||
| civics and go to the back of the same line as those prospective | ||
| immigrants seeking to come to the United States legally; fairness | ||
| demands that the system take into account special circumstances | ||
| surrounding candidates for probationary legal status, such as | ||
| minors brought to the country as children or agricultural workers | ||
| whose labor is essential to maintain the food supply; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The United States is a nation founded upon respect | ||
| for the rule of law; national security and our national interests | ||
| are poorly served by an embattled immigration system, and patchwork | ||
| attempts to mend its deficiencies undermine our potential for | ||
| prosperity and leave us ill-prepared to meet the challenges of the | ||
| modern world; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Solutions that provide for blanket amnesty, such as | ||
| those presented in the Simpson-Mazzoli Act of 1986, encourage | ||
| future violations of the law and should be excluded from the panoply | ||
| of options to be considered by the United States Congress; now, | ||
| therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas, | ||
| 1st Called Session, hereby respectfully urge the United States | ||
| Congress to swiftly enact and fund comprehensive immigration reform | ||
| that creates both a commonsense road map to earned legal status for | ||
| unauthorized immigrants and a guest worker program that | ||
| contemplates the future needs of U.S. business, in furtherance of | ||
| our nation's economic growth and national security; and, be it | ||
| further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
| the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
| members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
| this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a | ||
| memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. | ||
