The Cook County Board of Commissioners recently unanimously approved a resolution Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" GarcÃa proposed that is titled "Addressing the Harmful Effects of Immigrant Child and Family Detention and Calling on the U.S. Congress and the Executive Branch to Rescind the 'Zero Tolerance' Policy."
Garcia said, "With this resolution, Cook County calls on Cook County to call on the U.S. Congress and the executive branch to rescind the Zero Tolerance policy and define a pathway to reunification for impacted families.
"Furthermore, it is the first county-level resolution to call for a data-sharing memorandum of agreement between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to be retracted in order to ensure the safety of immigrant children in government custody. The resolution cites demands from immigrant-rights advocates across the country to limit funding towards [sic] immigration enforcement."
Among those testifying on behalf of Garcia's resolution were Anna Duke, who read a statement on behalf of the International Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago School of Law; Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights' Jajah Wu; the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights' Susan Gzesh; and Renee Hatcher, of the John Marshall Law School.
