Drafter
Clerk 06/14/2018
Title
A MOTION opposing the United States Attorney General's immigration policy that is separating families crossing the United States border.
Body
WHEREAS, On May 7, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Session announced that the Trump administration would greatly expand the practice of separating families who cross the United States-Mexico border illegally, and
WHEREAS, according to Reuters, the Department of Homeland Security has stated that the policy of separating families is intended to discourage people from attempting to cross the border, and
WHEREAS, in recent testimony before Congress, the United States Department of Homeland Security reported that 658 children were taken from their parents in just 13 days in May, and
WHEREAS, according to the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project ("NWIRP"), as of June 7, 2018, up to 120 women who crossed the southwest United States border seeking asylum are detained at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac, and
WHEREAS, many of those women were separated from their children shortly after being taken into custody and their children are being held at other government facilities, and
WHEREAS, the women NWIRP spoke with were charged with misdemeanors and sentenced to time served, but continue to be held in the federal detention center and have not been allowed to reunite with their children as their asylum claims are processed, and
WHEREAS, NWIRP reports that federal agents have refused to tell the mothers where their children are, and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Times reports that Immigration Customs Enforcement has been placing children separated from their parents in facilities and foster homes across the country and, according to the Washington State Attorney General's office, the state has located at least six children within Washington whose parents are being held in federal detention, and
WHEREAS, the Seattle office of Kids in Need of Defense stated that the organization has seen eight children, r...

Click here for full text