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RESOLUTION URGING THE PRESIDENT AND U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO IMPOSE A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON DETENTIONS AND DEPORTATIONS OF UNDOCUMENTED, NON-CRIMINAL IMMIGRANTS AND PROSPECTIVE BENEFICIARIES OF COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM LEGISLATION CURRENTLY PENDING IN CONGRESS

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WHEREAS, comprehensive immigration reform legislation, including a generous path to legalization for millions of undocumented, non-criminal immigrants in the United States, was adopted by the U.S. Senate last May and is supported by the President and leading members of Congress including all members of the Florida Congressional Delegation; and
WHEREAS, undocumented, non-criminal immigrants have families and U.S.-born children, work hard, pay taxes, own businesses, and contribute to the social, cultural, and economic life of Miami-Dade County; and
WHEREAS, detentions and deportations destroy families, traumatize U.S.-born children, and disrupt the economic and social cohesion of our community; and
WHEREAS, it is immoral to detain and deport persons who may benefit from comprehensive immigration reform legislation which we support and which it is anticipated that Congress will enact this year; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County is the most diverse county in the U.S. with sixty percent (60%) of our population hailing from abroad; and

WHEREAS, Florida�s prosperous agricultural, tourism, construction, and other industries depend on the work and contributions of immigrants; and
WHEREAS, many who have fled political repression and turmoil in their homelands, instead of receiving justice and fairness, have too often been relegated to second-class citizenship and lives of fear, insecurity, intimidation, and exploitation; and
WHEREAS, approximately 5,000 children each year grow up in Florida and graduate from Florida high schools, but through no fault of their own, lack proper immigration documents making them unable to secure drivers� licenses or afford college, and causing them to live in fear of their parents� or their own deportation to lands they�ve never known and whose languages they don�t speak; and
WHEREAS, current U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detention and deportation policies effectively cause panic, fear, and family separations, impeding our need to build strong families and social networks; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade�s Congressional Delegation strongly champions fair and generous comprehensive immigration reform legislation which provides a mechanism for adjustment of status to legal permanent residence in the United States to keep families together; and
WHEREAS, current DHS enforcement actions threaten Miami-Dade children, families, and communities by unnecessarily detaining and deporting thousands of individuals who would soon benefit from such legislation,


NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board:
Section 1. Urges the President and the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security to impose an immediate moratorium on all detentions and deportations of undocumented, noncriminal immigrants pending the outcome of fair and comprehensive immigration reform legislation currently pending before Congress.
Section 2. Directs the Clerk of the Board to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the U.S. President, the members of the Miami-Dade County Congressional Delegation and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Section 3. Directs the County's federal lobbyists to advocate for the action set forth in Section 1 above, and directs the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs to include this item in the 2007 Federal Legislative Package.