Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HCR95 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Anchia H.C.R. No. 95
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4	4	HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
5	5	WHEREAS, The Texas portion of the border between the United
6	6	States and Mexico comprises more than half of the nearly 2,000-mile
7	7	boundary between the two countries; as a result of this proximity,
8	8	the State of Texas is uniquely aware of the importance of the border
9	9	to the security of the nation as a whole and sensitive to the impact
10	10	of immigration on the economic and social well-being of both
11	11	countries; and
12	12	WHEREAS, The Office of the Inspector General at the
13	13	Department of Homeland Security estimates the costs of detaining
14	14	undocumented immigrants to be $1.7 billion annually, and current
15	15	research indicates that detaining immigrant and asylum-seeking
16	16	families does not deter illegal immigration; and
17	17	WHEREAS, In 2006, Homeland Security re-opened the T. Don
18	18	Hutto Residential Facility in Taylor, Texas, operated by private
19	19	prison firm Corrections Corporation of America, for the purpose of
20	20	detaining immigrant and asylum-seeking families who are awaiting
21	21	immigration proceedings; Of the up to 250 individuals detained in
22	22	the facility's family unit, at least half are children; and
23	23	WHEREAS, Children who have had no decisive role in their
24	24	migration or flight should not be exposed to unnecessary trauma,
25	25	and should not be detained in a regimented facility run by a
26	26	for-profit prison corporation with significant restrictions on
27	27	their liberty while their parents await immigration proceedings;
28	28	and
29	29	WHEREAS, The United States House and Senate committees on
30	30	appropriations has each expressed concern about children of
31	31	families in immigrant detention centers, and has stated that family
32	32	detention should be the last alternative and not the first; and
33	33	WHEREAS, Studies have shown high rates of immigration court
34	34	appearances for people in supervised release programs; A valid
35	35	alternative to detaining immigrant families would be to release and
36	36	reunite these children and their parents but monitor them under
37	37	supervised release programs, thereby reducing the emotional
38	38	consequences to young children; and
39	39	WHEREAS, Supervised release programs cost American taxpayers
40	40	significantly less than detention; Considering the long-term
41	41	consequences of family detention for children and the nation's
42	42	economic well-being, every possible alternative to family
43	43	detention should be examined, considered, and exhausted before such
44	44	action is taken; now, therefore, be it
45	45	RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas
46	46	hereby respectfully request that the U.S. Department of Homeland
47	47	Security consider all alternatives to the detention of immigrant
48	48	and asylum-seeking families with children; and, be it further
49	49	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
50	50	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, the
51	51	speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the
52	52	senate of the United States Congress, all members of the Texas
53	53	delegation to the congress, and the secretary of the United States
54	54	Department of Homeland Security, with the request that this
55	55	resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
56	56	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.