81R13325 BPG-F
By: Veasey H.C.R. No. 148
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) operates detention facilities for undocumented immigrants
throughout the United States, including six Texas facilities in El
Paso, Houston, Laredo, Port Isabel, and Willacy County and the
South Texas facility in Pearsall; and
WHEREAS, During 2008, ICE detention facilities across the
United States held a total average daily population of 31,345
undocumented immigrants, and the average length of stay was more
than 30 days; of those detained, 10,653 were women; and
WHEREAS, Many of the women entering ICE detention facilities
are recent victims of sexual assault and other physical and mental
trauma, and the U.S. government and ICE are responsible for their
care and treatment during the time they are held in these
facilities; the ICE operational manual, which sets forth national
performance-based detention standards, states that detainees will
have access to the same health care services as detainees in the
general population; and
WHEREAS, Despite these written standards, ICE has failed to
provide women in its facilities with the same access to care
provided by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to its female population,
according to recent reports by investigative journalists; women in
ICE detention facilities have therefore been denied access to the
full range of medical care and treatment to which they are entitled;
and
WHEREAS, It is the duty of the State of Texas and of the
United States of America to treat the most vulnerable among us in a
humane and ethical manner; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to immediately
take all necessary steps to ensure that women in U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement detention facilities receive full access to
the medical care to which they are entitled; 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 speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the
senate of the United States Congress, to the assistant secretary of
homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and
to all the members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the
request that this resolution be officially entered in the
Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United
States of America.