HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 20

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2018

INTRODUCED BY

Javier Martínez and Richard C. Martinez

 

 

 

 

 

A JOINT MEMORIAL

EXPRESSING THE LEGISLATURE'S SUPPORT OF DREAMERS AND REQUESTING WORK ON COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM.

 

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

     WHEREAS, the federal deferred action for childhood arrivals program was created by an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in August 2012; and

     WHEREAS, the deferred action for childhood arrivals program gives certain immigrants who came to the United States before they were sixteen years old, known as "dreamers", a chance to stay in the United States to study or work, provided that those dreamers meet certain conditions; and

     WHEREAS, nearly seven hundred ninety thousand young dreamers have received work permits and deportation relief through the federal deferred action for childhood arrivals program; and

     WHEREAS, those approved for participation in the deferred action for childhood arrivals program are given a work permit and protection from deportation for two years, which permit and protection can be renewed; and

     WHEREAS, the immigrant population in the United States is very diverse, including people from a range of backgrounds, ethnicities and nationalities. In 2015, forty-seven percent of immigrants to the United States reported their race as "white", twenty-seven percent as "Asian", nine percent as "black" and fifteen percent as another race; and

     WHEREAS, according to the 2014 American community survey, seven and two-tenths percent of the twenty-two million undocumented immigrants in the United States were black; and

     WHEREAS, among the top fifteen countries of origin of undocumented immigrants in the United States, a broad range of countries is represented, including Mexico, China, India, Canada and Haiti; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to an estimated ten thousand immigrants who would qualify for participation in the deferred action for childhood arrivals program and nearly seven thousand dreamers. Regardless of their immigration status, those dreamers and their families deserve consideration as immigration policies are developed; and

     WHEREAS, the institute on taxation and economic policy reported that in 2010, undocumented immigrants in New Mexico paid eighty-six million seven hundred thousand dollars ($86,700,000) in state and local taxes, including seventy-five million two hundred thousand dollars ($75,200,000) in gross receipts taxes, three million three hundred thousand dollars ($3,300,000) in state income taxes and eight million dollars ($8,000,000) in property taxes; and

     WHEREAS, the deferred action for childhood arrivals program is popular with the public and enjoys the support of employers, educators, community leaders and elected officials from across the political spectrum. According to a Morning Consult and Politico poll in April 2017, seventy-eight percent of American voters support giving dreamers the chance to stay in the United States permanently; and

     WHEREAS, President Donald Trump issued an executive order in September 2017 ending the deferred action for childhood arrivals program;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it stand in strong alliance with dreamers and in opposition to the president's rescission of the deferred action for childhood arrivals program; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature urge the president to stand by those who were brought as children to this country, the only home many of them have ever known; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature support a comprehensive and workable approach to repairing the nation's broken immigration system; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature call upon the United States congress to take affirmative steps to develop a new bipartisan and effective version of the deferred action for childhood arrivals program that does not require dreamers to choose between their own futures and the futures of their undocumented families and neighbors; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the president and vice president of the United States, the United States secretary of homeland security and the New Mexico congressional delegation.

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