Standing up for Utah Hispanic Families’ Rights

WHEREAS, the League of United Latin American Citizens is this nation’s oldest and largest Latino organization, founded in Corpus Christi, Texas on February 17, 1929; and

WHEREAS, LULAC throughout its history has committed itself to the principles that Latinos have equal access to opportunities in employment, education, housing and healthcare; and

WHEREAS, we the LULAC Councils of Utah LULAC, established in 2008, are part of a tradition that stands up for the rights of Utah Hispanics families in education, immigrant rights, civil rights, voter rights, and participation in economic development in order to make our community more prosperous; and

WHEREAS, recently the State of Utah has passed legislation and resolutions that ignore the contribution of Hispanics in the state; and

WHEREAS, these cover the gamut from targeting our undocumented brothers and sisters creating an environment of fear, poverty, and racism to hindering the participation of Utah Hispanics in the planning and redistricting process to participation in flawed federal programs that tear families asunder such as the Secure Communities Program; and

WHEREAS, we understand that the current legislative environment is the work of those not in line with the will of the majority of Utahans, whose spirit supports freedom and democracy, to all men and women and look toward the noble heights, principles and values encased in our nation's constitution and set forth by our founding fathers; and

WHEREAS, we know that much of the current environment is driven by our national immigration system, which is flawed and does not create a fruitful environment on policies that allows Hispanics a better future for law-abiding citizens; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Utah LULAC supports Comprehensive Immigration Reforms at the federal level and call upon the nation's government to move on legislation as soon as possible avoiding any delay in order to eliminate disruptions and keep the system fractured; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Utah LULAC will not support policies or laws that promote harm, intimidate, disgrace, and separate of Hispanic Utah children from their parents nor the mistreatment of immigrants in the United States regardless of their status; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Utah LULAC will continue and actively support the rights of ALL Hispanic Utahan’s and call our Utah state government and other stakeholders to fight wrong and harmful legislation that target our families, and calls for the inclusion of Hispanics in Utah's redistricting process.

Approved this 1st day of July 2011.

Margaret Moran
LULAC National President