WHEREAS poverty and destabilized civic institutions in Central and South America are subjecting citizens in those areas to rampant crime, disease and violence, and
WHEREAS past and, respectively, present policies of the United States have contributed and continue to contribute to making life in those areas all but unlivable for many, and
WHEREAS due to their desperation to escape from these unlivable conditions thousands of men, women and children, have decided to risk uncertainty by emigrating to the United States in hopes of securing safer and healthier living conditions, and
WHEREAS these refugees are being denied legal entry to the United States through the customary Ports of Entry where previously applications for asylum have been permitted, and
WHEREAS the customary courts of justice are understaffed and overwhelmed and therefore not able to act upon such applications in a timely manner, and
WHEREAS asylum seekers are being housed in inadequately and improperly administered facilities ill-equipped to house such populations, and
WHEREAS children are being separated from their families and improperly and inadequately supervised while housed in such facilities, and
WHEREAS such asylum policies inflict cruel and non-judicial punishment upon an innocent population of refugees, including children, in violation of civil rights laws, international law and basic tenets of human decency, and
WHEREAS it is incumbent upon the citizens of the United States and their elected representatives to stand up for justice, civil rights and human decency or be forever condemned for keeping silent in the face of injustice and unwarranted cruelty, and
WHEREAS Sonoma Valley and the City of Sonoma are home to undocumented residents who are subject to the uncertainty of arrest, incarceration and deportation, and
WHEREAS immigrant labor, both documented and undocumented, is a significant and irreplaceable part of our local economy,
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Sonoma does hereby object to such asylum policies of the United States and asks speedy relief, namely:
- the immediate decriminalization of the status of such refugees seeking asylum,
- the speedy and prompt acceptance of their asylum applications and resolution of such claims,
- the release of such refugees from the over-crowded and inadequate facilities,
- the immediate reunification of children with their families, and
- the proper funding to meet the health and humanitarian needs of the refugee population.
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