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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1525 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

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. Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Velazquez, 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. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. 
 Espaillat, Ms. Barragan, 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.

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;
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 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 Prospera 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 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;
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
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the United States must--
            (1) address United States policies contributing to forced 
        migration and displacement, including by--
                    (A) overhauling United States broad-based sanction 
                policy to ensure sanctions are not increasing economic 
                inequality, poverty, and forced migration;
                    (B) making adequate economic and humanitarian 
                investments in developing countries to address income 
                inequality and ensuring those investments improve the 
                livelihoods of everyday people, allowing them to stay 
                in their homes;
                    (C) promoting good governance, economic investment, 
                and humanitarian assistance in developing countries to 
                increase stability and create opportunity, enabling 
                people to pursue livelihoods at home;
                    (D) advancing international aid reforms that 
                support the localization of aid and strengthen local 
                agricultural sectors;
                    (E) improving the standard of living of everyday 
                people in developing countries by pursuing trade 
                policies that prioritize the needs and well-being of 
                workers and reviewing existing trade and investment 
                agreements to bring them in line with these priorities, 
                including by--
                            (i) building upon the rapid response 
                        mechanism (RRM) in the United States-Mexico-
                        Canada Agreement (USMCA) and building upon the 
                        RRM in other existing or future trade deals to 
                        ensure robust enforcement of labor, 
                        environment, and human rights standards in 
                        trade agreements; and
                            (ii) working to eliminate extreme investor 
                        rights and harmful Investor-State Dispute 
                        Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms from existing 
                        trade and investment agreements in the region;
                    (F) using the United States voice and vote at 
                International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and Inter 
                American Development Bank to create a more inclusive 
                international financial system that empowers developing 
                countries, addresses the global debt crisis, eliminates 
                surcharges, and refrains from implementing policy 
                actions that are shown to increase inequality and drive 
                displacement;
                    (G) supporting international climate finance 
                mechanisms, including a new issuance of Special Drawing 
                Rights and robust investments in the Green Climate 
                Fund, Loss and Damage Fund, and Amazon Fund to help 
                developing countries transition away from fossil fuels, 
                build resilience to climate change, and deal with the 
                effects of climate change, reducing climate-induced 
                migration;
                    (H) reducing arms trafficking and the flooding of 
                weapons into Haiti, Mexico, and the region by 
                strengthening United States gun laws, controlling the 
                scale and end users of United States-exported firearms, 
                and banning assault rifles;
                    (I) applying Leahy Law, Arms Export Control Act, 
                and Foreign Assistance Act principles and criteria to 
                the sale of origin defense articles and services;
                    (J) monitoring recipients' use of origin defense 
                articles and services to harm civilians and contribute 
                to violations of international humanitarian law and 
                international human rights law;
                    (K) supporting efforts to broker peace in the 
                region, including Colombia peace processes; and
                    (L) increasing interagency attention and resources 
                to United States engagement in developing countries, 
                including sustained high-level diplomacy to help bring 
                an end to conflicts that are the primary drivers of 
                forced displacement;
            (2) ensure a humane and sustainable immigration system that 
        appropriately addresses the root causes driving migration 
        including by--
                    (A) expanding appropriate legal pathways for 
                migration, creating additional pathways for migration, 
                and modernizing the legal immigration system to meet 
                21st century needs;
                    (B) ensuring access to immigration benefits, 
                including asylum and refugee processing, by providing 
                sufficient funding to process benefits, including at 
                Safe Mobility Offices, and clearing visa backlogs;
                    (C) lifting the current 180-day waiting time for 
                work authorization for individuals who apply for 
                asylum;
                    (D) guarantying legal representation to asylum 
                seekers and individuals facing deportation;
                    (E) utilizing humane community-based alternatives 
                to detention, dramatically reducing our reliance on 
                detention, and ending the criminalization of 
                immigrants; and
                    (F) creating a central process to give wrongfully 
                and unjustly deported people with ties to the United 
                States a meaningful chance to present a case to return 
                to the United States and reunite with loved ones; and
            (3) provide immigrants living in the United States with a 
        roadmap to citizenship.
                                 <all>
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