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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, President Donald J. Trump has falsely claimed that
3the forced family separation that took place at the U.S.-Mexico
4border is rooted in law; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The family separation was a direct result of an
6announcement made in early April of 2018 by Attorney General
7Jeff Sessions which stated that the Departments of Justice and
8Homeland Security would work together to criminally prosecute
9everyone who crosses the border illegally, now known as the
10Trump Administration's "zero tolerance" policy; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Since the implementation of this policy, over
122,300 young children have been torn away from their families;
13and
 
14    WHEREAS, It has been reported that hundreds of children
15have been caged with fencing at a facility in McAllen, Texas;
16and
 
17    WHEREAS, It has been reported that federal agents ripped a
18child away from her mother while she was breastfeeding her; and
 
19    WHEREAS, It has been reported that federal agents removed
20children from their families, ostensibly to give them baths,

 

 

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1and they never returned; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Both law enforcement and Health and Human Services
3officials have been unable to provide statistics on how many of
4the detained children are under the age of five, two, or even
5so young that they are non-verbal; and
 
6    WHEREAS, There has been no independent documentation of the
7living conditions inside the detainment facilities, as allowed
8journalists have been barred from taking photographs or videos;
9and
 
10    WHEREAS, All of the photographs depicting the living
11conditions in such facilities have been provided by the Trump
12Administration; and
 
13    WHEREAS, According to a former youth care worker at the
14Estrella del Norte shelter in Tucson, Texas, during his tenure
15children struggled to cope with the extreme trauma, causing
16them to lash out hysterically and even attempt self-harm; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The American Medical Association, the American
18Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association,
19and the American College of Physicians have all condemned the
20administration's practice, warning that children torn from
21their parents experience serious short and long-term health

 

 

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1consequences; and
 
2    WHEREAS, According to experts, unexpected separation from
3a parent figure triggers a flood of stress hormones that
4disrupt neural circuits in the brain, creating high levels of
5anxiety, and damaging a child's capacity to manage their
6emotions, trust people, and focus their attention on
7age-appropriate activities; and
 
8    WHEREAS, As a nation, we put an end to the child welfare
9system using orphanages due to concerns of lasting trauma to
10children, and now the federal government has placed young
11children in facilities that are not equipped to take care of
12them; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In response to the clear mistreatment of children,
1411 states are pulling National Guard troops from the
15U.S.-Mexico border; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Governor Bruce Rauner previously said he would
17send Illinois National Guard troops to the border, if asked to
18by the president; and
 
19    WHEREAS, While the president reversed course in signing an
20executive order to end his policy of family separation, it
21fails to address the over 2,300 young children who were torn

 

 

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1away from their parents and remain separated; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The United Nations' top human rights official,
3Democratic and Republican lawmakers and governors from across
4the country, Prime Minister Theresa May, Pope Francis, and
5other religious groups have condemned or criticized the
6administration's policy; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The administration's unconscionable treatment of
8children is an affront to basic human decency and to the values
9that built the State of Illinois and the United States of
10America; therefore, be it
 
11    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
12HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
13urge Governor Bruce Rauner to reverse his previous stance by
14pledging that no state resources will be used to assist the
15Trump Administration in carrying out its policies at the
16border, and that he call on the Acting Inspector General of the
17Department of Homeland Security to fully investigate how the
18thousands of young children currently detained are going to be
19reunited with their families; and be it further
 
20    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
21delivered to the Governor of the State of Illinois, the
22Illinois Congressional Delegation, the Attorney General of the

 

 

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1United States, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland
2Security, the Acting Inspector General of the Department of
3Homeland Security, and the President of the United States.