Title
Condemning separation of immigrant and refugee families and calling for the immediate end of the Trump administration’s Zero-Tolerance Policy.
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WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul is a place where all are welcomed, where all families are valued, and where we recognize and cherish every child’s right to health, happiness, comfort, and security; and
WHEREAS, immigrants and refugees have prospered, and contributed substantially to economic growth and revitalized neighborhoods in the City of Saint Paul; and
WHEREAS, since 2014, children and families have fled to the United States because of violence and gang activity in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras; and
WHEREAS, on April 6, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions notified all United States Attorney’s Offices of the Zero-Tolerance policy, which inhumanely detains all immigrant adults at the United States Boarder, without evidence in border-crossing offenses, regardless if they have children with them or not; and
WHEREAS, after the Zero-Tolerance policy was implemented, within 6 weeks, from April 18 to May 31st, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security officials reported that 1,995 children, as young as 18 months, were taken from 1,940 adults of immigrants being prosecuted of illegal entry; and
WHEREAS, more inhumane separations of families legally seeking asylum are unaccounted for, reportedly the number of separated families at an official border crossing of legal asylum-seeking immigrants have not been included in the report from DHS; and
WHEREAS, under the Zero-Tolerance policy, children are traumatically and forcibly separated from their parents, immediately transported into detention in United States custody and denied parental contact, in different states than their parents, including Saint Paul, Minnesota, where children are being processed for indefinite stays throughout the foster care system; and
WHEREAS, Department of Health and Human Services shelters are at near full capacity, with th...
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