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2016 SESSION

16102152D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 124
Offered January 13, 2016
Prefiled January 12, 2016
Memorializing the Congress of the United States to reimburse Fairfax County for the cost of resettling and providing services to unaccompanied alien minors.
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Patron-- Hugo
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Referred to Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, as of 2014, the federal government has resettled in Virginia more than 3,000 unaccompanied alien minors, primarily from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, who are fleeing violence related to gangs and the drug trade and environmental hardships, such as droughts; and

WHEREAS, with more than 1,100 children resettled in 2014, Fairfax County has more unaccompanied alien minors than any other locality in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and one of the highest numbers of such children in the United States; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth ranks highly overall in terms of states with the most placements of unaccompanied alien minors; the issue is ongoing, and in October and November 2015 alone, more than 10,500 children crossed into the United States; and

WHEREAS, unaccompanied alien minors in Fairfax County will make use of a variety of county services, including Fairfax County Public Schools; at an estimated cost of $14,755 per English as a second language student, Fairfax County Public Schools could be subject to millions of dollars in additional expenses; and

WHEREAS, the cost of providing services, including public education, social services, and government assistance, to unaccompanied alien minors will compete with other critical funding requirements in Fairfax County and could cause an undue burden on taxpayers; and

WHEREAS, unlike in Prince William County, where children were placed in one center with expenses reimbursed by the federal government, unaccompanied children in Fairfax County have been resettled throughout the community; other jurisdictions throughout the United States have pursued reimbursement from the federal government for the costs of resettling unaccompanied alien minors; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Congress of the United States be urged to reimburse Fairfax County for the cost of resettling and providing services to unaccompanied alien minors; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit copies of this resolution to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, and the members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation so that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter.