IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1525 

Calling for comprehensive legislation that addresses United States policies 

contributing to forced migration and displacement, promotes an immigration system that addresses the root causes of migration, reaffirms United 

States commitment to asylum, and provides a roadmap to citizenship 

for immigrants living in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 1, 2024 

Mr. CASAR (for himself, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, 

Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Georgia, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, 

Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. CLARKE of New 

York, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. OMAR, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. CARSON, Ms. OCASIOCORTEZ, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. PRESSLEY, 

Ms. NORTON, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 

JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. CHU, Mr. THANEDAR, and Ms. BUSH) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Calling for comprehensive legislation that addresses United 

States policies contributing to forced migration and displacement, promotes an immigration system that addresses the root causes of migration, reaffirms United 

States commitment to asylum, and provides a roadmap 

to citizenship for immigrants living in the United States. 


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•HRES 1525 IH 

Whereas the majority of Americans are immigrants or descendants of immigrants; 

Whereas there are an estimated 11,000,000 undocumented 

immigrants in the United States, the majority of whom 

have been in the United States for more than a decade, 

and they make immense contributions to the United 

States, have families in the United States, and need a 

roadmap to legal status; 

Whereas the United States has for decades pursued an immigration policy centered on punitive enforcement and deterrence, which has failed to achieve its stated purpose of 

curbing immigration and has greatly exacerbated the humanitarian struggles faced by people migrating; 

Whereas the United States has a long history of welcoming 

immigrants who choose to come to the United States and 

immigrants who are forced to come to the United States 

because of conditions in their home countries; 

Whereas the United States can continue to welcome immigrants while advancing policies that reduce forced displacement and make it easier for people who do not want 

to migrate to stay in their home countries; 

Whereas there has been a global rise in forced migration and 

displacement; 

Whereas the continent of Africa has both a larger share and 

absolute number of forcibly displaced people than any 

other major region in the world, with the continent’s 

forcibly displaced population doubling since 2018; 

Whereas the Department of State identifies ‘‘addressing economic insecurity and inequality’’ as the first pillar under 

its strategy to address the root causes of migration; 


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•HRES 1525 IH 

Whereas research has found that broad-based sectoral sanctions disproportionately affect the civilian population and 

have contributed to increased rates of income inequality 

and poverty; 

Whereas former President Donald Trump imposed some of 

the harshest sanctions in United States history on Venezuela, and both tightened the United States embargo of 

and applied new sanctions on Cuba; 

Whereas sanctions and other punitive economic measures 

have contributed to an economic depression in Venezuela, 

a multidigit economic contraction in Cuba, and the largest migratory outflows in the history of either country, 

with millions having left in recent years; 

Whereas the sanctions on both countries, and the 60-year 

embargo of Cuba, have failed to force either government 

out of power while contributing to the immiseration of 

people in both countries; 

Whereas addressing poverty, food insecurity, and inequality 

in developing countries requires making adequate investments in the region, prioritizing local communities when 

providing aid, implementing trade policies that advance 

the rights of workers, strengthening local agricultural 

sectors, and ensuring respect for indigenous peoples 

rights; 

Whereas investments in developing countries should focus on 

reducing the poverty rate, improving labor rights and increasing wages for workers, mitigating and adapting to 

the effects of climate change, strengthening democratic 

institutions, combating corruption, improving human 

rights, boosting access to education, closing the digital divide, empowering women and young people, and building 


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•HRES 1525 IH 

resilience to food insecurity in order to address the drivers of migration; 

Whereas some United States-sponsored trade and investment 

agreements, particularly in Latin America, have benefited 

corporate profits at the expense of workers and the environment, threatened the livelihoods and well-being of 

both United States and foreign workers, and catalyzed 

waves of immigration to the United States; 

Whereas congressional Democrats and labor unions forced 

changes to Trump’s initial United States-Mexico-Canada 

Agreement (USMCA) to include a facility-specific rapid 

response mechanism between the United States and Mexico, designed to protect workers’ collective bargaining 

rights at worksites in North America, which has directly 

benefited tens of thousands of workers and reduced unfair labor practices by multinational corporations; 

Whereas investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions, 

found in most United States trade agreements, allow 

multinational corporations and wealthy foreign investors 

to sue governments in unaccountable corporate tribunals 

over democratically chosen economic, environmental, 

labor, and public health policies, including in Honduras, 

where United States company Honduras Pro ́spera 

launched an ISDS claim for nearly $11,000,000, which 

amounts to nearly two-thirds of Honduras entire 2022 

national budget; 

Whereas debt distress and reduced investment in public services in developing countries contribute significantly to 

forced migration and displacement; 

Whereas the United Nations (UN) reports that global public 

debt reached an all-time high of $92,000,000,000,000 in 


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•HRES 1525 IH 

2022, with devastating consequences for 3,300,000,000 

people living in developing countries compelled to spend 

more on debt-servicing payments than on crucial public 

goods like health, education, and climate change adaptation and mitigation; 

Whereas the UN has called for a reform of the international 

financial architecture to ‘‘foster a more inclusive system 

that empowers developing countries to actively participate 

in the governance of the international financial system’’; 

Whereas the climate crisis is an existential threat and global 

challenge that is a primary driver of forced migration and 

displacement; 

Whereas climate change has exacerbated climate hazards and 

has amplified the risk of extreme weather disasters, resulting in the number of climate related disasters tripling 

over the last 30 years, and threatens the existence of island nations, including Kiribati, the Maldives, Marshall 

Islands, and Tuvalu; 

Whereas natural disasters including floods, hurricanes, and 

cyclones in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, 

Myanmar, the Bahamas, and Zimbabwe, droughts in 

India, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia, and earthquakes in 

Haiti, Nepal, and Indonesia have fueled displacement and 

forced migration; 

Whereas the UN says low- and middle-income countries could 

need up to $4,000,000,000,000 of additional investment 

a year to address the effects of climate change; 

Whereas violence is a primary driver of forced migration; 

Whereas armed conflict, repressive governance, and lack of 

economic opportunity, especially for young people, are 

some of the top drivers of migration; 


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•HRES 1525 IH 

Whereas conflicts across the world have resulted in millions 

of displaced people; 

Whereas reportedly 90 percent of the firearms recovered from 

crime scenes in Haiti, 70 percent of the traced firearms 

recovered in Mexico, and 75 percent of the firearms recovered in the Dominican Republic originated from the 

United States; 

Whereas the United States has too often provided security 

assistance, including defense articles and services, to 

human rights-abusing governments in Latin America and 

elsewhere, contributing to political repression and instability that worsens forced migration and displacement; 

and 

Whereas a consistent lack of high-level United States attention to conflicts on the African continent enables humanitarian crises to persist: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that the United States must— 

3 (1) address United States policies contributing 

4 to forced migration and displacement, including 

5 by— 

6 (A) overhauling United States broad-based 

7 sanction policy to ensure sanctions are not in8 creasing economic inequality, poverty, and 

9 forced migration; 

10 (B) making adequate economic and hu11 manitarian investments in developing countries 

12 to address income inequality and ensuring those 


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1 investments improve the livelihoods of everyday 

2 people, allowing them to stay in their homes; 

3 (C) promoting good governance, economic 

4 investment, and humanitarian assistance in de5 veloping countries to increase stability and cre6 ate opportunity, enabling people to pursue live7 lihoods at home; 

8 (D) advancing international aid reforms 

9 that support the localization of aid and 

10 strengthen local agricultural sectors; 

11 (E) improving the standard of living of ev12 eryday people in developing countries by pur13 suing trade policies that prioritize the needs 

14 and well-being of workers and reviewing exist15 ing trade and investment agreements to bring 

16 them in line with these priorities, including 

17 by— 

18 (i) building upon the rapid response 

19 mechanism (RRM) in the United States20 Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and 

21 building upon the RRM in other existing 

22 or future trade deals to ensure robust en23 forcement of labor, environment, and 

24 human rights standards in trade agree25 ments; and 


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1 (ii) working to eliminate extreme in2 vestor rights and harmful Investor-State 

3 Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms 

4 from existing trade and investment agree5 ments in the region; 

6 (F) using the United States voice and vote 

7 at International Monetary Fund, World Bank, 

8 and Inter American Development Bank to cre9 ate a more inclusive international financial sys10 tem that empowers developing countries, ad11 dresses the global debt crisis, eliminates sur12 charges, and refrains from implementing policy 

13 actions that are shown to increase inequality 

14 and drive displacement; 

15 (G) supporting international climate fi16 nance mechanisms, including a new issuance of 

17 Special Drawing Rights and robust investments 

18 in the Green Climate Fund, Loss and Damage 

19 Fund, and Amazon Fund to help developing 

20 countries transition away from fossil fuels, 

21 build resilience to climate change, and deal with 

22 the effects of climate change, reducing climate23 induced migration; 

24 (H) reducing arms trafficking and the 

25 flooding of weapons into Haiti, Mexico, and the 


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1 region by strengthening United States gun 

2 laws, controlling the scale and end users of 

3 United States-exported firearms, and banning 

4 assault rifles; 

5 (I) applying Leahy Law, Arms Export 

6 Control Act, and Foreign Assistance Act prin7 ciples and criteria to the sale of origin defense 

8 articles and services; 

9 (J) monitoring recipients’ use of origin de10 fense articles and services to harm civilians and 

11 contribute to violations of international humani12 tarian law and international human rights law; 

13 (K) supporting efforts to broker peace in 

14 the region, including Colombia peace processes; 

15 and 

16 (L) increasing interagency attention and 

17 resources to United States engagement in devel18 oping countries, including sustained high-level 

19 diplomacy to help bring an end to conflicts that 

20 are the primary drivers of forced displacement; 

21 (2) ensure a humane and sustainable immigra22 tion system that appropriately addresses the root 

23 causes driving migration including by— 

24 (A) expanding appropriate legal pathways 

25 for migration, creating additional pathways for 


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•HRES 1525 IH 

1 migration, and modernizing the legal immigra2 tion system to meet 21st century needs; 

3 (B) ensuring access to immigration bene4 fits, including asylum and refugee processing, 

5 by providing sufficient funding to process bene6 fits, including at Safe Mobility Offices, and 

7 clearing visa backlogs; 

8 (C) lifting the current 180-day waiting 

9 time for work authorization for individuals who 

10 apply for asylum; 

11 (D) guarantying legal representation to 

12 asylum seekers and individuals facing deporta13 tion; 

14 (E) utilizing humane community-based al15 ternatives to detention, dramatically reducing 

16 our reliance on detention, and ending the crim17 inalization of immigrants; and 

18 (F) creating a central process to give 

19 wrongfully and unjustly deported people with 

20 ties to the United States a meaningful chance 

21 to present a case to return to the United States 

22 and reunite with loved ones; and 

23 (3) provide immigrants living in the United 

24 States with a roadmap to citizenship. 

Æ 


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