| 1 | 1 | | 81R13325 BPG-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Veasey H.C.R. No. 148 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | CONCURRENT RESOLUTION |
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| 6 | 6 | | WHEREAS, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement |
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| 7 | 7 | | (ICE) operates detention facilities for undocumented immigrants |
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| 8 | 8 | | throughout the United States, including six Texas facilities in El |
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| 9 | 9 | | Paso, Houston, Laredo, Port Isabel, and Willacy County and the |
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| 10 | 10 | | South Texas facility in Pearsall; and |
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| 11 | 11 | | WHEREAS, During 2008, ICE detention facilities across the |
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| 12 | 12 | | United States held a total average daily population of 31,345 |
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| 13 | 13 | | undocumented immigrants, and the average length of stay was more |
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| 14 | 14 | | than 30 days; of those detained, 10,653 were women; and |
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| 15 | 15 | | WHEREAS, Many of the women entering ICE detention facilities |
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| 16 | 16 | | are recent victims of sexual assault and other physical and mental |
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| 17 | 17 | | trauma, and the U.S. government and ICE are responsible for their |
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| 18 | 18 | | care and treatment during the time they are held in these |
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| 19 | 19 | | facilities; the ICE operational manual, which sets forth national |
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| 20 | 20 | | performance-based detention standards, states that detainees will |
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| 21 | 21 | | have access to the same health care services as detainees in the |
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| 22 | 22 | | general population; and |
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| 23 | 23 | | WHEREAS, Despite these written standards, ICE has failed to |
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| 24 | 24 | | provide women in its facilities with the same access to care |
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| 25 | 25 | | provided by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to its female population, |
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| 26 | 26 | | according to recent reports by investigative journalists; women in |
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| 27 | 27 | | ICE detention facilities have therefore been denied access to the |
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| 28 | 28 | | full range of medical care and treatment to which they are entitled; |
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| 29 | 29 | | and |
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| 30 | 30 | | WHEREAS, It is the duty of the State of Texas and of the |
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| 31 | 31 | | United States of America to treat the most vulnerable among us in a |
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| 32 | 32 | | humane and ethical manner; now, therefore, be it |
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| 33 | 33 | | RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas |
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| 34 | 34 | | hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to immediately |
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| 35 | 35 | | take all necessary steps to ensure that women in U.S. Immigration |
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| 36 | 36 | | and Customs Enforcement detention facilities receive full access to |
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| 37 | 37 | | the medical care to which they are entitled; and, be it further |
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| 38 | 38 | | RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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| 39 | 39 | | copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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| 40 | 40 | | the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the |
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| 41 | 41 | | senate of the United States Congress, to the assistant secretary of |
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| 42 | 42 | | homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and |
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| 43 | 43 | | to all the members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the |
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| 44 | 44 | | request that this resolution be officially entered in the |
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| 45 | 45 | | Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United |
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| 46 | 46 | | States of America. |
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