H. Res. 64 (Introduced in House) — Recognizing that it is the duty of the Federal Government to develop and implement a Roadmap to Freedom in order to overhaul the outdated immigration system in the United States that has gone without significant reform for decades, and to relieve the great human impact an unjust system bears on communities around the country.

(A)

promoting full citizenship by creating an equitable roadmap that fosters and nurtures full citizenship, and investing in resources to clear the backlogged citizenship process;

(B)

protecting and strengthening a fair process centered on family unity by—

(i)

eliminating barriers to family reunification;

(ii)

preserving and strengthening family based immigration;

(iii)

creating a just and accessible process for eligible individuals who are deported, detained, or in sanctuary to reunite with their families and communities, and return home in the United States;

(C)

promoting and preserving diversity by encouraging immigration from underrepresented countries; establishing opportunities for individuals who otherwise would not have an opportunity to migrate through existing family, humanitarian, or employment-based channels; and fostering new connections, unique perspectives, and diversity within the United States through upholding and enhancing the diversity visa program;

(D)

establishing a just, humane system to uphold U.S. immigration laws by—

(i)

ensuring fairness and disentangling the criminal and deportation systems such that the enforcement of immigration laws will not rely upon detention and deportation by—

(I)

creating scalable civil consequences to immigration violations;

(II)

repealing harmful provisions of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA);

(III)

decriminalizing the acts of migration and seeking asylum;

(IV)

ending the 287(g) program and other programs that enable local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws or require or incentivize cooperation and support for Federal immigration enforcement; and

(V)

ending the disproportionate immigration penalties that flow from involvement in the criminal legal system, in particular on immigrants of color;

(ii)

ensuring that no person is removed, expelled, or denied admission without guaranteed and meaningful access to legal defense;

(iii)

mandating that all enforcement actions must comply with the Fourth Amendment, basic principles of fairness and due process, uphold civil rights and civil liberties, and include robust privacy protections;

(iv)

respecting the safety and security of all people during encounters with law enforcement by upholding the longstanding division between State and local law enforcement and Federal immigration enforcement and enacting policies to build trust and eliminate racial and religious profiling by all Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies in the United States;

(v)

protecting the safety of immigrant communities by prohibiting immigration enforcement at sensitive locations including health care facilities; schools and school bus stops; places that provide assistance to people such as children, pregnant women, and survivors of abuse; places that provide disaster or emergency services; places of worship; courthouses; probation offices; lawyers’ offices; and public assistance offices; and

(vi)

initiating an individualized review process to ensure that these changes are implemented retroactively;

(E)

embracing a presumption of liberty for all immigrants by—

(i)

ending the detention of families, children, and other vulnerable populations, mandatory detention, and the use of detention for migration processing;

(ii)

upholding dignity by eliminating the profit motive to detain people by ending the use of private, for-profit detention facilities and State and local jails and prisons;

(iii)

investing in effective community-based and community-supported case management programs operated by credible non-profits that support immigrants who need it based on a presumption that asylum seekers and immigrants going through immigration court proceedings are free to live in their homes or communities, and save taxpayers’ dollars and protect human rights; and

(iv)

ensuring robust protections and standards for the safety and well-being of children, including while in immigration custody;

(F)

ensuring Federal immigration agencies are fair and accountable by—

(i)

establishing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) as a customer-service oriented agency that is properly resourced to promote immigrant and refugee integration by reviewing all applications and benefits in an expeditious, fair, and responsive manner; protecting immigrants’ rights and data privacy; and maintaining affordable application fees;

(ii)

creating an Office of Migrant Protection that is tasked with collecting data, establishing best practices, and promoting policies that benefit the immigrant community in the United States;

(iii)

establishing an independent Immigration Court system that promotes fairness and independence and ensures Immigration Judges and appellate courts are free from political influence and have the power to exercise discretion, including granting relief where equities demand it; and

(iv)

ensuring robust and independent oversight of immigration agencies including a meaningful complaint process that engages impacted communities and stakeholders;

(G)

establishing a humane and effective border policy that protects the safety of all communities and invests in the rights and livelihoods of borderland communities by—

(i)

partnering with borderland communities in decisionmaking about the border;

(ii)

facilitating safe, dignified, and efficient trans-border travel, trade, and exchange that strengthens community and economic ties and well-being;

(iii)

honoring the rights of people living in the borderlands including by reversing the flow of money into harmful border walls, barriers, and “virtual walls” that perpetuate militarization of the border and use invasive technology that violate individuals’ civil rights and civil liberties and investing in modernizing ports of entry, economic development, education, and social services;

(iv)

ensuring fair, effective, timely, and humane processing of all persons seeking entry at the borders and ensuring civil rights and civil liberties protections, including by ensuring that these protections apply fully everywhere within the United States, including at and near the border;

(v)

establishing welcoming centers at the border to ensure that people seeking safety are processed in a way that upholds American values;

(vi)

protecting the right of borderland communities to move without unconstitutional searches and seizures by ending checkpoints in the interior of the United States;

(vii)

engaging in evidence-based strategic planning to better allocate border authorities and resources and uphold human rights including rejecting spending on military installments, physical barriers, or unnecessary personnel, and rescinding the authorities that were used to waive legal requirements for border construction; and

(viii)

addressing the damages and providing reparations for landowners, communities, and public, private, and tribal lands harmed by border wall construction, border militarization, and border authorities;

(H)

affirming protections for immigrant survivors of violence by ensuring prompt access to survivor protections afforded under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), through the asylum system, and for Special Immigrant Juveniles seeking safety, by—

(i)

preventing the detention and deportation of survivors seeking legal protections;

(ii)

ensuring fair, just, and expedited processing of VAWA, TVPA and other victim related cases and corresponding employment authorization; and

(iii)

protecting survivors from abuser manipulation of the immigration system as a tool of retaliation by strengthening accountability to confidentiality protections afforded immigrant survivors;

(I)

recognizing the value of all work by modernizing the rules that govern our workforce immigration needs including by—

(i)

ensuring that all people who are recruited to meet verifiable labor market needs are able to change employers, bring and live with their families, and earn a roadmap to citizenship;

(ii)

protecting all working people by ensuring immigrants have work authorization, safe working conditions, and strong labor protections, including safeguards against employer retaliation and equal remedies when their rights are violated; and

(iii)

redirecting budgets and priorities for worksite immigration enforcement and instead empowering labor and employment agencies to prosecute workplace violations that endanger all working people—whether immigrant or native born—and that perpetuate discrimination, exploitation, and substandard working conditions;

(J)

promoting healthy communities by ensuring immigrants’ access to health care and housing, and eliminating barriers that deter immigrant communities from accessing crucial public services for which they are eligible;

(K)

promoting social, civic, and economic integration by establishing a National Office of Immigrant Affairs, promoting citizenship for those who are eligible, and investing in English language learning programs and workforce development training;

(L)

modernizing and strengthening humanitarian pathways to the United States to recognize fundamental human rights to safety and dignity, and reflect the changing socio political, economic, and environmental causes driving humanitarian crises, including by—

(i)

fully supporting refugee resettlement;

(ii)

ensuring meaningful and broad access to asylum and other humanitarian protections;

(iii)

recommitting to U.S. obligations to protect and support people seeking asylum in the United States throughout the duration of their pending asylum claims; and

(iv)

acknowledging the global trends that lead people to seek safety and ensuring people fleeing both state and non-state violence are able to access protection;

(M)

engaging regional allies and investing in countries vulnerable to the impacts of economic, climate, trade, social, and security factors driving migration including investment in rural development, employment, free and fair elections, gender equity, labor protections, access to health care, and education programs that expand opportunity and economic security, food security, and other targeted credit and financing programs to provide debt relief and stimulate stability and growth that is inclusive of vulnerable populations; and

(N)

acknowledging the harms of past policies on individuals, families, and communities by engaging in a truth and reconciliation process to provide justice to those who have suffered under an inequitable and inhumane system for decades; and

Cite this provision

Incoming references