WHEREAS the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ (IBEW) constitution declares that our cause is “the cause of HUMAN JUSTICE, HUMAN RIGHTS, and HUMAN SECURITY;”
WHEREAS in the last six weeks, thousands of children have been taken from their parents by U.S. agents under a new policy of “Zero Tolerance” announced by Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in an effort to deter families from entering the United States and as a bargaining chip to force a broader immigration agenda that limits legal immigration and removes family reunification as a central element of U.S. policy;
WHEREAS criminalizing all immigrants who have fled the violence and poverty in their homelands undermines due process and fails to recognize the powerful and complex forces pushing them to risk the perilous journey north, including decades of unfair trade laws, military interventions, and the suppression of economic and democratic development, often propagated by our own government;
WHEREAS this policy misrepresents the motives and aspirations of the vast majority of immigrants who take seriously the inscription on the Statue of Liberty – “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free;”
WHEREAS the recent Executive Order signed by President Trump transforms a civil infraction into a criminal offense, will lead to the internment of countless asylum-seeking families, and does nothing to reunite the children who have already been separated from their parents;
WHEREAS comprehensive immigration reform is imperative, but should not on the backs of children, as ripping children from their parents is immoral and wrong – and so is indefinite incarceration of these families;
WHEREAS Pope Francis has beseeched the United States government to stop breaking apart families, calling the separation of immigrant children from their parents “immoral.” He expressed support for the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops who wrote:
“Our government has the discretion in our laws to ensure that young children are not separated from their parents and exposed to irreparable harm and trauma. Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together;”
WHEREAS Former First Lady Laura Bush has likened the separation of families and the caging of children to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, one of the shameful chapters in U.S. history; and
WHEREAS a bi-partisan group of 75 U.S. attorneys has petitioned the Trump Administration to cease the practice from a legal and moral standpoint, stating
“Like a majority of Americans, we are appalled that your Zero Tolerance policy has resulted in the unnecessary trauma and suffering of innocent children…But as former U.S. Attorneys, we also emphasize that Zero Tolerance policy is …dangerous, expensive, and inconsistent with the values of the institution in which we served…. Collectively as former United States Attorneys, we have prosecuted tens of thousands of cases involving far more serious crimes than misdemeanor illegal entry offenses. And even in those far more serious cases, decisions involving the separation of children from their parents were made with extraordinary caution…Today, by contrast, your Zero Tolerance policy has produced a tragic and unsustainable result, without taking into account each family’s specific circumstances. “
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that IBEW 1245 shall join with other labor, business, religious, community and civic groups in calling for an end to the humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, including the forced separation of children from their families and the interment of immigrant families;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we shall call upon the Trump Administration to cease and desist the separation of children from their families and to stop the demonization and criminalization of immigrants seeking safe haven; and
FINALLY, BE IT RESOLVED that we call upon the U.S. Congress and the Administration to commit to good faith negotiations to achieve immigration reform that honors due process, preserves the value of family reunification, adheres to international human rights principles, and addresses the root causes compelling immigration in the first place.
Approved by the IBEW 1245 Executive Board on June 22, 2018