City of Philadelphia - File #: 160886

• File #: 160886
• Version: 0
• Type: Resolution
• Status: ADOPTED
• File created: 10/6/2016
• In control: CITY COUNCIL
• Final action: 10/13/2016
• Title: Calling on Congress to immediately rectify the injustice of the "1996 Immigration Laws" by restoring due process to immigration procedures, ending automatic deportation, and discontinuing mass detention, in order to uphold human rights and dignity in the United States immigration system.
• Sponsors: Councilmember Gym, Councilmember Blackwell, Councilmember Green, Councilmember Domb, Councilmember Greenlee, Councilmember Reynolds Brown, Councilmember Johnson, Councilmember Jones

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
10/13/2016	0	CITY COUNCIL	ADOPTED	Pass	14:3
10/6/2016	0	CITY COUNCIL	Introduced and Ordered Placed On Next Week's Final Passage Calendar	Pass

Title
Calling on Congress to immediately rectify the injustice of the "1996 Immigration Laws" by restoring due process to immigration procedures, ending automatic deportation, and discontinuing mass detention, in order to uphold human rights and dignity in the United States immigration system.

Body
WHEREAS, 2016 marks twenty years since the passing of the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), otherwise known as the "1996 Immigration Laws"; and

WHEREAS, The Philadelphia City Council Committees on Children and Youth and Education held a public hearing on June 14, 2016 to explore the impact of 1996 Immigration Laws on Philadelphia's immigrant community and the impact of the school-to-prison-to-deportation pipeline on Philadelphia's immigrant youth; and

WHEREAS, This hearing documented the severe and inhumane impact of the laws on Asian, Black, and Latino immigrant communities, including testimony from Philadelphians deported to Cambodia; and

WHEREAS, These laws are responsible for expanding the incarceration of immigrants, creating a fast track for deportations without due process, setting the foundation for local police and ICE collaborations, and making legal immigration more difficult; and

WHEREAS, These laws expanded the grounds for deportation, broadened the definition of "aggravated felony" by removing judicial discretion and due process in deportation cases and categorizing deportation for an "aggravated felony" as permanent with no hope of return; and

WHEREAS, These laws doubly punish immigrants who have already served jail time, and furthermore, the retroactive scope of the law's implementation includes deportation for crimes committed before the existence of the law; and

WHEREAS, Since 1996, and particularly since the founding of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003, the U.S. has made significant investments in the surveil...