Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HCR34 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R8096 BPG-D
2	2	By: Reynolds H.C.R. No. 34
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5	5	CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
6	6	WHEREAS, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has
7	7	strayed far from its original mission, gaining a disturbing
8	8	reputation as a mass-deportation strike force incompatible with
9	9	democracy and human rights; and
10	10	WHEREAS, In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks against our
11	11	nation, ICE was established to promote national security by
12	12	preventing "acts of terrorism by targeting the people, money, and
13	13	materials that support terrorist and criminal activities"; the
14	14	agency grew wildly in subsequent years, losing its focus as its
15	15	budget ballooned with multimillion dollar contracts for private
16	16	companies backed by swarms of lobbyists; and
17	17	WHEREAS, Today, some 8,000 ICE agents are tasked with
18	18	locating, arresting, detaining, and removing undocumented
19	19	immigrants; only 6,000 are involved in tracking the terrorists and
20	20	transnational crime syndicates that present a grave peril to the
21	21	nation and its people; these agents in ICE's Homeland Security
22	22	Investigations division combat money laundering, drug trafficking,
23	23	human smuggling, child exploitation, and cybercrimes; in
24	24	counter-proliferation operations, they target individuals
25	25	attempting to smuggle military and high-tech equipment out of the
26	26	country; HSI has also been involved in such complex, high-profile
27	27	cases as the takedown of the nefarious Silk Road website and the
28	28	arrest and capture of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín "El Chapo"
29	29	Guzmán Loera; and
30	30	WHEREAS, In June 2018, 19 special agents in charge of
31	31	regional HSI offices submitted a letter to the secretary of
32	32	Homeland Security requesting that their division be spun off from
33	33	ICE, stating that their work has been undermined by ICE's
34	34	controversial detention and deportation policies; they cited a
35	35	breakdown in partnerships with local law enforcement officials, who
36	36	question the independence of their agency in light of aggressive
37	37	measures against immigration; such actions include targeting
38	38	families at churches and schools, conducting massive raids,
39	39	arresting undocumented workers for minor offenses, and breaking up
40	40	families by sending longtime U.S. residents to countries they
41	41	hardly know; and
42	42	WHEREAS, While resources are directed away from agents
43	43	dedicated to national security, ICE exercises increased
44	44	surveillance of communities of color and immigrant communities;
45	45	moreover, its draconian detention policies have filled the coffers
46	46	of companies that run for-profit facilities with a long, troubling
47	47	history of lax oversight, unsafe conditions, and grotesque
48	48	mistreatment, as documented by the DHS Office of Inspector General;
49	49	as of September 2018, nearly two-thirds of the 40,000 immigrants
50	50	detained by ICE were held in such private facilities, costing
51	51	taxpayers millions of dollars; and
52	52	WHEREAS, Before the creation of ICE, immigration violations
53	53	were handled by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which
54	54	was part of the Department of Justice and worked closely with the
55	55	Department of Labor; the inclusion of these functions under ICE has
56	56	led to the deprioritization of transnational crime fighting while
57	57	framing immigration, historically an engine of economic
58	58	development and societal enrichment, as a national security threat;
59	59	ICE has become a bloated agency tainted by controversy and largely
60	60	unmoored from its original purpose, and the responsible path
61	61	forward is to transfer its critical national security functions and
62	62	develop a more humane and effective immigration system that
63	63	complies with constitutional protections, domestic law, and
64	64	binding international treaties; now, therefore, be it
65	65	RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas
66	66	hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to abolish U.S.
67	67	Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and, be it further
68	68	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
69	69	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
70	70	the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
71	71	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
72	72	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
73	73	this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
74	74	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.