Title: Recognizing that it is the duty of the Federal Government to develop and implement a Roadmap to Freedom in order to overhaul the outdated immigration system in the United States that has gone without significant reform for decades, and to relieve the great human impact an unjust system bears on communities around the country.
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
This resolution expresses the sense that it is the federal government's duty to develop and implement a Roadmap to Freedom immigration reform plan by (1) promoting full citizenship, (2) protecting and strengthening a fair process centered on family unity, (3) promoting and preserving diversity by encouraging immigration from underrepresented countries, and (4) establishing a just and humane system to uphold immigration laws.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 64 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 64

 Recognizing that it is the duty of the Federal Government to develop 
 and implement a Roadmap to Freedom in order to overhaul the outdated 
     immigration system in the United States that has gone without 
 significant reform for decades, and to relieve the great human impact 
       an unjust system bears on communities around the country.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 28, 2021

  Ms. Jayapal (for herself, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Escobar, Ms. 
  Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Chu, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. 
 Bush, Mr. Carson, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. 
Espaillat, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Hastings, 
Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Jones, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Lee 
  of California, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Meng, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. 
Norton, Ms. Omar, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Pocan, Ms. 
  Pressley, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Takano, Ms. 
  Tlaib, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Velazquez, and Mrs. 
Watson Coleman) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on 
Ways and Means, Homeland Security, and Foreign Affairs, 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


 
 Recognizing that it is the duty of the Federal Government to develop 
 and implement a Roadmap to Freedom in order to overhaul the outdated 
     immigration system in the United States that has gone without 
 significant reform for decades, and to relieve the great human impact 
       an unjust system bears on communities around the country.

Whereas our strength as a country has always been greater when we welcome 
        newcomers;
Whereas today the United States is an economic and innovation powerhouse due to 
        the labor and lands of Indigenous peoples to which the United States has 
        continuing trust and treaty responsibilities, the labor of enslaved 
        people and their descendants, and generations of immigrants from every 
        corner of the globe;
Whereas immigrants and their families are a vital part of every community across 
        the country;
Whereas creating a fair immigration process that upholds our values and honors 
        the courage and tenacity of people who have moved to pursue a better 
        life, upholds our foundational commitment to liberty and justice for 
        all;
Whereas the majority of Americans support modernizing our Nation's immigration 
        laws and keeping families together;
Whereas the United States is home to an estimated 10.5 million undocumented 
        immigrants and stateless individuals, approximately 16 million people 
        living in mixed-status families, and at least 5.1 million children with 
        an undocumented parent;
Whereas an estimated 19.8 million people who have immigrated to the United 
        States support American families by providing health care, food, and 
        other essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet many--
        including mixed-status families--are excluded from almost all Federal 
        pandemic relief, including access to testing, treatment, and food and 
        financial assistance;
Whereas these 19.8 million people are projected to continue playing a critical 
        role in American life and work, and need a safe and fair immigration 
        process;
Whereas creating a fair and humane immigration system will help level the 
        playing field for all working people and ensure that employers cannot 
        take advantage of an outdated system to undermine worker voice and 
        protections;
Whereas people, businesses, and communities suffer due to an immigration system 
        that is plagued by backlogs, processing delays, and overly complex 
        policies that are inefficient, harmful, and widen the existing 
        inequities in the system;
Whereas immigrants--regardless of status--contribute billions every year in 
        taxes, yet many have virtually no access to safety net programs that are 
        vital to ensuring that all communities thrive;
Whereas all of us are harmed when our outdated and biased immigration system 
        does not respond to the needs of the United States;
Whereas today's main immigration enforcement agency, the Department of Homeland 
        Security (DHS) was formed after the September 11, 2001, attacks and 
        reshaped immigration as a national security issue, and minimized 
        immigration as an issue of humanitarian protection, family unity, and 
        economic necessity--the effects of which have permeated immigration 
        policies at all levels over the last nearly 20 years;
Whereas the Trump Administration's DHS has deployed agents and surveillance 
        technology to suppress the constitutionally protected First Amendment 
        rights of citizens and noncitizens alike across the country;
Whereas our outdated immigration laws and rampant immigration enforcement has 
        disproportionately impacted low-income people, people of color, and 
        Black, Latinx, Muslim and Arab, Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants, 
        immigrants from Indigenous communities and their families, and 
        borderland communities and these people have suffered gravely under 
        policies that prioritize detention and deportation as a means of 
        deterrence, including--

    (1) the separation of hundreds of thousands of families resulting from 
implementation of the Trump administration's ``Zero Tolerance'' policy in 
addition to deporting tens of thousands of parents away from U.S. citizen 
children annually, and families separated by lengthy processing backlogs 
and bans on people from Muslim-majority and African countries who have 
loved ones and family members in the United States;

    (2) over a million recipients of either Deferred Action for Childhood 
Arrivals (DACA) or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) who have had their 
status taken away, bans on people from Muslim-majority and African 
countries, and the decimation of the asylum and refugee resettlement 
systems;

    (3) deplorable conditions in the custody of Customs and Border 
Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including prolonged 
detention, rampant use of solitary confinement, crowded cells, rotten food, 
physical abuse, sexual abuse, medical abuse, and forced medical procedures 
of detained women, including some resulting in sterilization; and

    (4) dozens of preventable deaths in the custody of Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, including deaths of 
children, due to medical neglect and suicide;

Whereas Black immigrants excel in all sectors of society, yet are 
        disproportionately targeted by incarceration and deportation in which 
        they experience abuse, longer periods of detention, and make up more 
        than 20 percent of those facing deportation, despite making up 
        approximately seven percent of the noncitizen population;
Whereas Muslim immigrants contribute greatly to their communities, yet have been 
        disparately subjected to bans, visa denials and denaturalization efforts 
        based on their religion and national origin, and the targets of racial 
        and religious profiling, discrimination, bigotry, and hate crimes;
Whereas Asian immigrants are the fastest growing immigrant population yet are 
        harmed by lengthy backlogs that keep families apart and prevent them 
        from becoming U.S. citizens, and Southeast Asian immigrants are the 
        largest refugee community in the United States, yet are three times more 
        likely to be deported based on an old criminal conviction;
Whereas indigenous immigrants have come to the United States fleeing persecution 
        in great numbers in recent years yet have been subject to prolonged 
        detention and forcibly returned to the countries they fled due to 
        language barriers and a lack of adequate interpretation in their native 
        languages;
Whereas Latinx immigrants represent the largest immigrant community in the 
        United States yet are frequently scapegoated, criminalized, and racially 
        profiled leading to discrimination, hate crimes, and targeting for 
        detention and deportation due to collaboration between local law 
        enforcement and Federal immigration authorities;
Whereas migration can increase a woman's access to education, economic 
        independence, and autonomy, yet migrant women's work is not valued in 
        the immigration system and women are at a greater risk of exploitation, 
        trafficking, and abuse;
Whereas the Federal Government unnecessarily spends $8.43 million per day on 
        immigrant detention at an average daily cost of $208 per detained 
        immigrant, when those same people should be able to pursue their 
        immigration case in communities, and cost-effective humane community-
        based case management programs exist when needed;
Whereas the main drivers of the global displacement of people include violence, 
        food insecurity, extreme poverty, mass wealth inequality, the effects of 
        climate change, endemic corruption, unfair judicial systems, harm done 
        by multi-national corporations and mass consumption of resources, and 
        U.S. foreign policy and military intervention leading to decades of 
        destabilization;
Whereas our post-World War II commitment to provide access to protection to 
        people seeking safety in the United States has been almost completely 
        dismantled under the Trump Administration;
Whereas the politicization of the Immigration Court system has interfered with 
        the efficient and fair operations of the Immigration Courts and resulted 
        in due process violations;
Whereas immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human and 
        labor trafficking are vulnerable to ongoing abuse and exploitation for 
        extended periods of time while their harm-doers are able to leverage the 
        immigration system as a tool of fear, exploitation, and profit making;
Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic deepened the injustices of the immigration system 
        resulting in a tremendous spread of COVID-19 in detention, deaths of 
        multiple persons in detention due to COVID-19, and mass expulsions of 
        unaccompanied children and asylum seekers at the border; and
Whereas a fair and equitable immigration process that centers on family unity 
        and humanitarian protection, and that works for all, is necessary to 
        eliminate these systemic injustices: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to develop and 
        implement a Roadmap to Freedom by--
                    (A) promoting full citizenship by creating an 
                equitable roadmap that fosters and nurtures full 
                citizenship, and investing in resources to clear the 
                backlogged citizenship process;
                    (B) protecting and strengthening a fair process 
                centered on family unity by--
                            (i) eliminating barriers to family 
                        reunification;
                            (ii) preserving and strengthening family 
                        based immigration;
                            (iii) creating a just and accessible 
                        process for eligible individuals who are 
                        deported, detained, or in sanctuary to reunite 
                        with their families and communities, and return 
                        home in the United States;
                    (C) promoting and preserving diversity by 
                encouraging immigration from underrepresented 
                countries; establishing opportunities for individuals 
                who otherwise would not have an opportunity to migrate 
                through existing family, humanitarian, or employment-
                based channels; and fostering new connections, unique 
                perspectives, and diversity within the United States 
                through upholding and enhancing the diversity visa 
                program;
                    (D) establishing a just, humane system to uphold 
                U.S. immigration laws by--
                            (i) ensuring fairness and disentangling the 
                        criminal and deportation systems such that the 
                        enforcement of immigration laws will not rely 
                        upon detention and deportation by--
                                    (I) creating scalable civil 
                                consequences to immigration violations;
                                    (II) repealing harmful provisions 
                                of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 
                                Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) 
                                and the Antiterrorism and Effective 
                                Death Penalty Act (AEDPA);
                                    (III) decriminalizing the acts of 
                                migration and seeking asylum;
                                    (IV) ending the 287(g) program and 
                                other programs that enable local law 
                                enforcement to enforce immigration laws 
                                or require or incentivize cooperation 
                                and support for Federal immigration 
                                enforcement; and
                                    (V) ending the disproportionate 
                                immigration penalties that flow from 
                                involvement in the criminal legal 
                                system, in particular on immigrants of 
                                color;
                            (ii) ensuring that no person is removed, 
                        expelled, or denied admission without 
                        guaranteed and meaningful access to legal 
                        defense;
                            (iii) mandating that all enforcement 
                        actions must comply with the Fourth Amendment, 
                        basic principles of fairness and due process, 
                        uphold civil rights and civil liberties, and 
                        include robust privacy protections;
                            (iv) respecting the safety and security of 
                        all people during encounters with law 
                        enforcement by upholding the longstanding 
                        division between State and local law 
                        enforcement and Federal immigration enforcement 
                        and enacting policies to build trust and 
                        eliminate racial and religious profiling by all 
                        Federal, State and local law enforcement 
                        agencies in the United States;
                            (v) protecting the safety of immigrant 
                        communities by prohibiting immigration 
                        enforcement at sensitive locations including 
                        health care facilities; schools and school bus 
                        stops; places that provide assistance to people 
                        such as children, pregnant women, and survivors 
                        of abuse; places that provide disaster or 
                        emergency services; places of worship; 
                        courthouses; probation offices; lawyers' 
                        offices; and public assistance offices; and
                            (vi) initiating an individualized review 
                        process to ensure that these changes are 
                        implemented retroactively;
                    (E) embracing a presumption of liberty for all 
                immigrants by--
                            (i) ending the detention of families, 
                        children, and other vulnerable populations, 
                        mandatory detention, and the use of detention 
                        for migration processing;
                            (ii) upholding dignity by eliminating the 
                        profit motive to detain people by ending the 
                        use of private, for-profit detention facilities 
                        and State and local jails and prisons;
                            (iii) investing in effective community-
                        based and community-supported case management 
                        programs operated by credible non-profits that 
                        support immigrants who need it based on a 
                        presumption that asylum seekers and immigrants 
                        going through immigration court proceedings are 
                        free to live in their homes or communities, and 
                        save taxpayers' dollars and protect human 
                        rights; and
                            (iv) ensuring robust protections and 
                        standards for the safety and well-being of 
                        children, including while in immigration 
                        custody;
                    (F) ensuring Federal immigration agencies are fair 
                and accountable by--
                            (i) establishing U.S. Citizenship and 
                        Immigration Service (USCIS) as a customer-
                        service oriented agency that is properly 
                        resourced to promote immigrant and refugee 
                        integration by reviewing all applications and 
                        benefits in an expeditious, fair, and 
                        responsive manner; protecting immigrants' 
                        rights and data privacy; and maintaining 
                        affordable application fees;
                            (ii) creating an Office of Migrant 
                        Protection that is tasked with collecting data, 
                        establishing best practices, and promoting 
                        policies that benefit the immigrant community 
                        in the United States;
                            (iii) establishing an independent 
                        Immigration Court system that promotes fairness 
                        and independence and ensures Immigration Judges 
                        and appellate courts are free from political 
                        influence and have the power to exercise 
                        discretion, including granting relief where 
                        equities demand it; and
                            (iv) ensuring robust and independent 
                        oversight of immigration agencies including a 
                        meaningful complaint process that engages 
                        impacted communities and stakeholders;
                    (G) establishing a humane and effective border 
                policy that protects the safety of all communities and 
                invests in the rights and livelihoods of borderland 
                communities by--
                            (i) partnering with borderland communities 
                        in decisionmaking about the border;
                            (ii) facilitating safe, dignified, and 
                        efficient trans-border travel, trade, and 
                        exchange that strengthens community and 
                        economic ties and well-being;
                            (iii) honoring the rights of people living 
                        in the borderlands including by reversing the 
                        flow of money into harmful border walls, 
                        barriers, and ``virtual walls'' that perpetuate 
                        militarization of the border and use invasive 
                        technology that violate individuals' civil 
                        rights and civil liberties and investing in 
                        modernizing ports of entry, economic 
                        development, education, and social services;
                            (iv) ensuring fair, effective, timely, and 
                        humane processing of all persons seeking entry 
                        at the borders and ensuring civil rights and 
                        civil liberties protections, including by 
                        ensuring that these protections apply fully 
                        everywhere within the United States, including 
                        at and near the border;
                            (v) establishing welcoming centers at the 
                        border to ensure that people seeking safety are 
                        processed in a way that upholds American 
                        values;
                            (vi) protecting the right of borderland 
                        communities to move without unconstitutional 
                        searches and seizures by ending checkpoints in 
                        the interior of the United States;
                            (vii) engaging in evidence-based strategic 
                        planning to better allocate border authorities 
                        and resources and uphold human rights including 
                        rejecting spending on military installments, 
                        physical barriers, or unnecessary personnel, 
                        and rescinding the authorities that were used 
                        to waive legal requirements for border 
                        construction; and
                            (viii) addressing the damages and providing 
                        reparations for landowners, communities, and 
                        public, private, and tribal lands harmed by 
                        border wall construction, border 
                        militarization, and border authorities;
                    (H) affirming protections for immigrant survivors 
                of violence by ensuring prompt access to survivor 
                protections afforded under the Violence Against Women 
                Act (VAWA), the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 
                (TVPA), through the asylum system, and for Special 
                Immigrant Juveniles seeking safety, by--
                            (i) preventing the detention and 
                        deportation of survivors seeking legal 
                        protections;
                            (ii) ensuring fair, just, and expedited 
                        processing of VAWA, TVPA and other victim 
                        related cases and corresponding employment 
                        authorization; and
                            (iii) protecting survivors from abuser 
                        manipulation of the immigration system as a 
                        tool of retaliation by strengthening 
                        accountability to confidentiality protections 
                        afforded immigrant survivors;
                    (I) recognizing the value of all work by 
                modernizing the rules that govern our workforce 
                immigration needs including by--
                            (i) ensuring that all people who are 
                        recruited to meet verifiable labor market needs 
                        are able to change employers, bring and live 
                        with their families, and earn a roadmap to 
                        citizenship;
                            (ii) protecting all working people by 
                        ensuring immigrants have work authorization, 
                        safe working conditions, and strong labor 
                        protections, including safeguards against 
                        employer retaliation and equal remedies when 
                        their rights are violated; and
                            (iii) redirecting budgets and priorities 
                        for worksite immigration enforcement and 
                        instead empowering labor and employment 
                        agencies to prosecute workplace violations that 
                        endanger all working people--whether immigrant 
                        or native born--and that perpetuate 
                        discrimination, exploitation, and substandard 
                        working conditions;
                    (J) promoting healthy communities by ensuring 
                immigrants' access to health care and housing, and 
                eliminating barriers that deter immigrant communities 
                from accessing crucial public services for which they 
                are eligible;
                    (K) promoting social, civic, and economic 
                integration by establishing a National Office of 
                Immigrant Affairs, promoting citizenship for those who 
                are eligible, and investing in English language 
                learning programs and workforce development training;
                    (L) modernizing and strengthening humanitarian 
                pathways to the United States to recognize fundamental 
                human rights to safety and dignity, and reflect the 
                changing socio political, economic, and environmental 
                causes driving humanitarian crises, including by--
                            (i) fully supporting refugee resettlement;
                            (ii) ensuring meaningful and broad access 
                        to asylum and other humanitarian protections;
                            (iii) recommitting to U.S. obligations to 
                        protect and support people seeking asylum in 
                        the United States throughout the duration of 
                        their pending asylum claims; and
                            (iv) acknowledging the global trends that 
                        lead people to seek safety and ensuring people 
                        fleeing both state and non-state violence are 
                        able to access protection;
                    (M) engaging regional allies and investing in 
                countries vulnerable to the impacts of economic, 
                climate, trade, social, and security factors driving 
                migration including investment in rural development, 
                employment, free and fair elections, gender equity, 
                labor protections, access to health care, and education 
                programs that expand opportunity and economic security, 
                food security, and other targeted credit and financing 
                programs to provide debt relief and stimulate stability 
                and growth that is inclusive of vulnerable populations; 
                and
                    (N) acknowledging the harms of past policies on 
                individuals, families, and communities by engaging in a 
                truth and reconciliation process to provide justice to 
                those who have suffered under an inequitable and 
                inhumane system for decades; and
            (2) the Roadmap to Freedom must be developed in transparent 
        and inclusive consultation, collaboration, and partnership with 
        frontline communities, community-based organizations, human 
        rights organizations, labor unions, immigrant worker 
        collectives, academia, and business stakeholders.
                                 <all>