86R8096 BPG-D
By: Reynolds H.C.R. No. 34
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has
strayed far from its original mission, gaining a disturbing
reputation as a mass-deportation strike force incompatible with
democracy and human rights; and
WHEREAS, In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks against our
nation, ICE was established to promote national security by
preventing "acts of terrorism by targeting the people, money, and
materials that support terrorist and criminal activities"; the
agency grew wildly in subsequent years, losing its focus as its
budget ballooned with multimillion dollar contracts for private
companies backed by swarms of lobbyists; and
WHEREAS, Today, some 8,000 ICE agents are tasked with
locating, arresting, detaining, and removing undocumented
immigrants; only 6,000 are involved in tracking the terrorists and
transnational crime syndicates that present a grave peril to the
nation and its people; these agents in ICE's Homeland Security
Investigations division combat money laundering, drug trafficking,
human smuggling, child exploitation, and cybercrimes; in
counter-proliferation operations, they target individuals
attempting to smuggle military and high-tech equipment out of the
country; HSI has also been involved in such complex, high-profile
cases as the takedown of the nefarious Silk Road website and the
arrest and capture of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín "El Chapo"
Guzmán Loera; and
WHEREAS, In June 2018, 19 special agents in charge of
regional HSI offices submitted a letter to the secretary of
Homeland Security requesting that their division be spun off from
ICE, stating that their work has been undermined by ICE's
controversial detention and deportation policies; they cited a
breakdown in partnerships with local law enforcement officials, who
question the independence of their agency in light of aggressive
measures against immigration; such actions include targeting
families at churches and schools, conducting massive raids,
arresting undocumented workers for minor offenses, and breaking up
families by sending longtime U.S. residents to countries they
hardly know; and
WHEREAS, While resources are directed away from agents
dedicated to national security, ICE exercises increased
surveillance of communities of color and immigrant communities;
moreover, its draconian detention policies have filled the coffers
of companies that run for-profit facilities with a long, troubling
history of lax oversight, unsafe conditions, and grotesque
mistreatment, as documented by the DHS Office of Inspector General;
as of September 2018, nearly two-thirds of the 40,000 immigrants
detained by ICE were held in such private facilities, costing
taxpayers millions of dollars; and
WHEREAS, Before the creation of ICE, immigration violations
were handled by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which
was part of the Department of Justice and worked closely with the
Department of Labor; the inclusion of these functions under ICE has
led to the deprioritization of transnational crime fighting while
framing immigration, historically an engine of economic
development and societal enrichment, as a national security threat;
ICE has become a bloated agency tainted by controversy and largely
unmoored from its original purpose, and the responsible path
forward is to transfer its critical national security functions and
develop a more humane and effective immigration system that
complies with constitutional protections, domestic law, and
binding international treaties; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to abolish U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement; 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.