WHEREAS, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas share a 1,969 mile border with Mexico and a long history of culture and commerce;
WHEREAS, the states welcome and engage in trade and visitation with other nations;
WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of the United States federal government to ensure the integrity and security of our national borders;
WHEREAS, citing to the safety and security of the border, the Arizona Legislature and Governor approved Arizona Senate Bill 1070, effective on July 29, 2010;
WHEREAS, immigration concerns are broader than the issues addressed in the “Arizona Anti-Immigration Law”
WHEREAS, some states have indicated their intent to introduce legislation similar to Arizona Senate Bill 1070;
WHEREAS, many cities and law enforcement officers across the nation have expressed concern that application of the Arizona law will likely violate the constitutional rights of citizens, lead to racial profiling of both U.S. citizens and non-citizens, and will impede law enforcement efforts to investigate crimes in which the immigration status of the victims and witnesses may be an issue;
WHEREAS, the United States has continually been globally recognized as a role model in the acceptance of diversity, and the United States has been economically, politically, socially, and religiously founded on the concept of embracing immigrants, and is a country developed and created by immigrants;
WHEREAS, current immigration law separates families, creates waits of many years for family unification, and has dire consequences for those convicted of minor crimes;
WHEREAS, immigration law is a topic assigned by the Constitution to the federal government, rather than the states, and varied implementation in different states creates an inconsistent patchwork of state laws and lacks notice to individuals of the law to be enforced differently in different parts of the country;
WHEREAS, NACDL commends the San Antonio City Council for their leadership and courage in passing a resolution in June, 2010, urging restraint from the Texas legislature in passing similar anti-immigration laws.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY NACDL:
SECTION 1: NACDL urges state and local jurisdictions to refrain from passing a law similar to Arizona Senate Bill 1070 or any other law that targets individuals on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin and endangers the protection of constitutional rights;
SECTION 2: NACDL urges states, cities, counties, and other local governments to refrain from enforcing federal immigration law; and
SECTION 3: NACDL urges the President and the Congress to carry out their responsibility to secure the integrity and safety of our national borders by passing sensible, humane, comprehensive, fair, just, and bipartisan immigration laws.
San Antonio, Texas
