IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 499 

Condemning the Trump Administration’s systematic cruel and inhumane 

treatment of migrants, particularly children, at the southern border. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 17, 2019 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. BASS, Mr. BEYER, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. 

CICILLINE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DESAULNIER, 

Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. ENGEL, 

Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FOSTER, 

Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. GONZALEZ of 

Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. JOHNSON of 

Texas, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN

of California, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MENG, 

Ms. MOORE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIOCORTEZ, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Ms. 

PRESSLEY, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. 

TONKO, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. SUOZZI, and Mrs. KIRKPATRICK) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the Trump Administration’s systematic cruel 

and inhumane treatment of migrants, particularly children, at the southern border. 

Whereas the Trump Administration began a ‘‘zero tolerance’’ 

policy in the summer of 2017, officially announced in the 

spring of 2018, that led to family separations totaling 


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•HRES 499 IH 

nearly 3,000 children taken from their parents or caregivers; 

Whereas Trump’s ‘‘zero tolerance’’ policies have resulted in 

preverbal children, children as young as 4 months, being 

separated from their families, some of whom have been 

kept in cages, many forced to sleep on the floor, and 

most held in cells with the lights on 24 hours a day; 

Whereas there have been numerous reports of children being 

forced to take care of other children in lieu of proper 

adult supervision; 

Whereas at least seven children are known to have died in 

immigration custody since 2018, after nearly a decade in 

which no child reportedly died while in the custody of 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP); 

Whereas pursuant to a 2018 court order in Ms. L. v. U.S. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department 

of Health and Human Services has identified 2,737 children who were separated from their families with a full 

understanding that the Department of Health and 

Human Services lacked the system to reunite families; 

Whereas the Department of Health and Human Services’ 

identification of 2,737 children is not a complete accounting of the total number of children who have been separated from their families, as thousands were not included 

in the lawsuit and more than 700 separations have occurred since the 2018 court order; 

Whereas there is still no integrated interagency system to 

properly track or share information about separated families; 

Whereas the Trump administration has repeatedly incited 

fear in immigrant communities around the country, most 


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recently with the threat of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids after the July 4 holiday; 

Whereas, in fiscal year 2018, the Department of Health and 

Human Services’ Office of Refugee and Resettlement released 86 percent of children in custody to a sponsor: 42 

percent of which were to parents, 47 percent of which 

were to close relatives, and 11 percent of which were to 

distant relatives or nonrelatives; 

Whereas the Trump administration has denied immigrants 

the legal right to seek asylum by forcing immigrants to 

enter the United States at a port of entry and also denied some at ports of entry due to metering policies, forcing them into more dangerous routes; 

Whereas, in January 2019, the Trump administration defied 

international law and implemented an unprecedented immigration policy intended to limit the influx of asylumseekers by forcing them to remain in Mexico while they 

await United States court proceedings, and Federal officials have returned more than 15,000 people to Mexico 

this year under this policy despite widespread congressional opposition; 

Whereas 24 immigrants have died in U.S. Immigration and 

Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody during the Trump 

administration; 

Whereas ICE is detaining approximately 54,000 immigrants, 

well above the number of detention beds authorized by 

Congress; 

Whereas there is a need for increased humanitarian standards to ensure humane conditions for those in CBP and 

ICE custody; 


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•HRES 499 IH 

Whereas the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector 

General found that migrants are being held in cells designed for one-fifth as many detainees as were housed 

there; 

Whereas the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector 

General found ‘‘egregious violations’’ at two detention 

centers it inspected, including nooses in detainee cells, inadequate medical care, rotten food, and other conditions 

that endangered detainee health; 

Whereas investigations have found that ICE routinely places 

immigrants who have mental illnesses, medical issues, or 

are members of the LGBTQ community in solitary confinement; 

Whereas Trump administration attorneys argued in June 

2019 that it is ‘‘safe and sanitary’’ to confine children in 

facilities without soap or toothbrushes and to make them 

sleep on concrete floors under bright lights; 

Whereas the Trump administration recently moved 300 children out of a CBP detention facility in Clint, Texas, 

after reports that they were being held without proper 

sanitation, food, and water, but one day later, they 

moved 100 children back into the facility; and 

Whereas the conditions perpetrated on the southern border 

inflict physical and psychological damage on our most 

vulnerable populations that will have long lasting repercussions and do not reflect what the United States stands 

for: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives formally 

2 condemns the Trump Administration’s systematic cruel 


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•HRES 499 IH 

1 and inhumane treatment of migrants, particularly chil2 dren, at the southern border. 

Æ 


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