1.1 	A resolution
1.2 	urging the President and Congress of the United States to continue the federal Deferred 
1.3 	Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, encouraging Congress to create a 
1.4 	permanent pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients, and encouraging the president 
1.5 	to continue the Temporary Protected Status program (TPS).
1.6 	WHEREAS, the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, was 
1.7 	created through an executive action signed by President Barack Obama in August 2012; and
1.8 	WHEREAS, many immigrant parents bring their family to the United States to provide them 
1.9 	with greater opportunities for access to the "American Dream;" and
1.10 	WHEREAS, DACA gives aspiring citizens who came to the United States before 16 years 
1.11 	of age, known as Dreamers, a chance to stay in the United States to study or work, provided that 
1.12 	they meet certain conditions such as being enrolled in high school or having a high school degree 
1.13 	or GED equivalent, and not having a serious criminal conviction; and
1.14 	WHEREAS, those approved for the program are given a work permit and protection from 
1.15 	deportation for two years, and these benefits can be renewed; and
1.16 	WHEREAS, nearly 790,000 young aspiring citizens have received work permits and 
1.17 	deportation relief through the federal government's DACA program; and
1.18 	WHEREAS, Minnesota has in excess of 13,800 DACA recipients; and
1.19 	WHEREAS, the immigrant population is very diverse, including peoples from a range of 
1.20 	backgrounds and ethnicities. In 2015, 47 percent of immigrants reported their race as White, 27 
1.21 	percent as Asian, 9 percent as Black, and 15 percent as some other race; and
1.22 	WHEREAS, among the top 15 countries of origin for aspiring citizens, a broad range of 
1.23 	countries are represented, including Mexico, China, India, Canada, and Somalia; and
2.1 	WHEREAS, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has reported that aspiring citizens 
2.2 	in Minnesota paid $83.2 million in state and local taxes in 2014; and
2.3 	WHEREAS, hundreds of community members, educational institutions, political leaders 
2.4 	from both parties, and religious and business leaders have publicly advocated against the end of 
2.5 	DACA; and
2.6 	WHEREAS, ending the DACA program will have life-changing and even tragic life-or-death 
2.7 	consequences; and
2.8 	WHEREAS, the end of DACA is detrimental to individuals, families, and to the interests of 
2.9 	residents of the State of Minnesota; and
2.10 	WHEREAS, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program was established by the United 
2.11 	States Congress in 1990 to provide protection to foreign nationals and work authorization while 
2.12 	they remain in the United States because they cannot return safely to their countries due to armed 
2.13 	conflict, environmental disasters or epidemics, or other extraordinary conditions; and
2.14 	WHEREAS, the extension for the TPS program that was approved by the United States 
2.15 	Department of Homeland Security in 2016, which was for the period of September 10, 2016, through 
2.16 	March 9, 2018, had cited the following reasons for the extension: a series of natural disasters and 
2.17 	environmental challenges, including regional drought, that has impacted food security; infrastructure 
2.18 	challenges, including a housing deficit of about 630,000 houses and a lack of potable water and 
2.19 	electricity; increasing criminal violence and insecurity; and economic challenges such as high 
2.20 	unemployment and poverty; and
2.21 	WHEREAS, TPS currently protects approximately 437,000 people in the United States from 
2.22 	ten countries who would otherwise be deported; and
2.23 	WHEREAS, the largest groups of TPS recipients are from El Salvador with approximately 
2.24 	195,000 people, followed by Honduras with approximately 57,000 people, and Haiti with 
2.25 	approximately 50,000 people; and
2.26 	WHEREAS, on January 8, 2018, the Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland 
2.27 	Security announced the termination of the TPS designation for El Salvador and that the designation 
2.28 	will terminate on September 9, 2019; and
2.29 	WHEREAS, ending TPS will adversely impact the United States economy, with estimates 
2.30 	including a $3 billion cost to taxpayers for deporting TPS recipients from El Salvador, Honduras, 
2.31 	and Haiti; over $45 billion in lost gross domestic product over a decade due to the lost productivity 
2.32 	of these individuals; $6.9 billion in lost Social Security and Medicare contributions; and close to 
2.33 	$1 billion in turnover costs incurred by employers for the wholesale termination of the employment 
2.34 	of this population; and
3.1 	WHEREAS, terminating TPS before home countries are sufficiently recovered will have a 
3.2 	profoundly destabilizing effect that will be felt in countries in need, by their neighbors, and at the 
3.3 	United States borders, as more people flee their countries to save their lives and the lives of their 
3.4 	families; and
3.5 	WHEREAS, the federal Department of Homeland Security has already denied extension of 
3.6 	TPS status to several countries, meaning that current recipients will lose their ability to work legally 
3.7 	in the United States and will be at risk of being deported back to dangerous conditions in their home 
3.8 	countries; and
3.9 	WHEREAS, the State of Minnesota values and respects the inherent worth of every person, 
3.10 	regardless of immigration status, and welcomes the cultural and economic contributions of DACA 
3.11 	and TPS recipients and their families; NOW THEREFORE,
3.12 	BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature calls upon the Congress of the United States to take 
3.13 	affirmative steps toward development of a bipartisan and more effective version of DACA that 
3.14 	provides a pathway to citizenship; and
3.15 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature urges the President of the United States 
3.16 	continue TPS and reverse his decision to terminate the TPS designation for El Salvador; and
3.17 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature calls upon the Congress of the United 
3.18 	States to restore and strengthen the DACA and TPS programs without linking those actions to other 
3.19 	changes in immigration policy including policies on family reunification and the visa lottery system; 
3.20 	and
3.21 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is directed 
3.22 	to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President and Vice President of the 
3.23 	United States, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the President and the Secretary 
3.24 	of the United States Senate, the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the 
3.25 	Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the United States 
3.26 	House of Representatives, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress.