HF 3318

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 03/13/2018 10:54am

A resolution
urging the President and Congress of the United States to continue the federal Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, encouraging Congress to create a
permanent pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients, and encouraging the president
to continue the Temporary Protected Status program (TPS).

WHEREAS, the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, was
created through an executive action signed by President Barack Obama in August 2012; and

WHEREAS, many immigrant parents bring their family to the United States to provide them
with greater opportunities for access to the "American Dream;" and

WHEREAS, DACA gives aspiring citizens who came to the United States before 16 years
of age, known as Dreamers, a chance to stay in the United States to study or work, provided that
they meet certain conditions such as being enrolled in high school or having a high school degree
or GED equivalent, and not having a serious criminal conviction; and

WHEREAS, those approved for the program are given a work permit and protection from
deportation for two years, and these benefits can be renewed; and

WHEREAS, nearly 790,000 young aspiring citizens have received work permits and
deportation relief through the federal government's DACA program; and

WHEREAS, Minnesota has in excess of 13,800 DACA recipients; and

WHEREAS, the immigrant population is very diverse, including peoples from a range of
backgrounds and ethnicities. In 2015, 47 percent of immigrants reported their race as White, 27
percent as Asian, 9 percent as Black, and 15 percent as some other race; and

WHEREAS, among the top 15 countries of origin for aspiring citizens, a broad range of
countries are represented, including Mexico, China, India, Canada, and Somalia; and

WHEREAS, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has reported that aspiring citizens
in Minnesota paid $83.2 million in state and local taxes in 2014; and

WHEREAS, hundreds of community members, educational institutions, political leaders
from both parties, and religious and business leaders have publicly advocated against the end of
DACA; and

WHEREAS, ending the DACA program will have life-changing and even tragic life-or-death
consequences; and

WHEREAS, the end of DACA is detrimental to individuals, families, and to the interests of
residents of the State of Minnesota; and

WHEREAS, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program was established by the United
States Congress in 1990 to provide protection to foreign nationals and work authorization while
they remain in the United States because they cannot return safely to their countries due to armed
conflict, environmental disasters or epidemics, or other extraordinary conditions; and

WHEREAS, the extension for the TPS program that was approved by the United States
Department of Homeland Security in 2016, which was for the period of September 10, 2016, through
March 9, 2018, had cited the following reasons for the extension: a series of natural disasters and
environmental challenges, including regional drought, that has impacted food security; infrastructure
challenges, including a housing deficit of about 630,000 houses and a lack of potable water and
electricity; increasing criminal violence and insecurity; and economic challenges such as high
unemployment and poverty; and

WHEREAS, TPS currently protects approximately 437,000 people in the United States from
ten countries who would otherwise be deported; and

WHEREAS, the largest groups of TPS recipients are from El Salvador with approximately
195,000 people, followed by Honduras with approximately 57,000 people, and Haiti with
approximately 50,000 people; and

WHEREAS, on January 8, 2018, the Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland
Security announced the termination of the TPS designation for El Salvador and that the designation
will terminate on September 9, 2019; and

WHEREAS, ending TPS will adversely impact the United States economy, with estimates
including a $3 billion cost to taxpayers for deporting TPS recipients from El Salvador, Honduras,
and Haiti; over $45 billion in lost gross domestic product over a decade due to the lost productivity
of these individuals; $6.9 billion in lost Social Security and Medicare contributions; and close to
$1 billion in turnover costs incurred by employers for the wholesale termination of the employment
of this population; and

WHEREAS, terminating TPS before home countries are sufficiently recovered will have a
profoundly destabilizing effect that will be felt in countries in need, by their neighbors, and at the
United States borders, as more people flee their countries to save their lives and the lives of their
families; and

WHEREAS, the federal Department of Homeland Security has already denied extension of
TPS status to several countries, meaning that current recipients will lose their ability to work legally
in the United States and will be at risk of being deported back to dangerous conditions in their home
countries; and

WHEREAS, the State of Minnesota values and respects the inherent worth of every person,
regardless of immigration status, and welcomes the cultural and economic contributions of DACA
and TPS recipients and their families; NOW THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature calls upon the Congress of the United States to take
affirmative steps toward development of a bipartisan and more effective version of DACA that
provides a pathway to citizenship; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature urges the President of the United States
continue TPS and reverse his decision to terminate the TPS designation for El Salvador; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature calls upon the Congress of the United
States to restore and strengthen the DACA and TPS programs without linking those actions to other
changes in immigration policy including policies on family reunification and the visa lottery system;
and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is directed
to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President and Vice President of the
United States, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the President and the Secretary
of the United States Senate, the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the
Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the United States
House of Representatives, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress.