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. OCASIO- 
CORTEZ, 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. PERL-
MUTTER, 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 chil-
dren, 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 care-
givers; 
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 chil-
dren 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 account-
ing of the total number of children who have been sepa-
rated from their families, as thousands were not included 
in the lawsuit and more than 700 separations have oc-
curred since the 2018 court order; 
Whereas there is still no integrated interagency system to 
properly track or share information about separated fam-
ilies; 
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 Cus-
toms Enforcement raids after the July 4 holiday; 
Whereas, in fiscal year 2018, the Department of Health and 
Human Services’ Office of Refugee and Resettlement re-
leased 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 de-
nied some at ports of entry due to metering policies, forc-
ing them into more dangerous routes; 
Whereas, in January 2019, the Trump administration defied 
international law and implemented an unprecedented im-
migration policy intended to limit the influx of asylum- 
seekers by forcing them to remain in Mexico while they 
await United States court proceedings, and Federal offi-
cials have returned more than 15,000 people to Mexico 
this year under this policy despite widespread congres-
sional 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 stand-
ards to ensure humane conditions for those in CBP and 
ICE custody; 
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Whereas the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector 
General found that migrants are being held in cells de-
signed 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, in-
adequate 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 con-
finement; 
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 chil-
dren 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 reper-
cussions and do not reflect what the United States stands 
for: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives formally 
condemns the Trump Administration’s systematic cruel 
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