FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jeff Rogers

Chair, Pima County Democratic Party

May 5, 2009

(520) 360-0924

jrogers@jrogerslaw.com

Pima County Democratic Party Executive Committee Votes Unanimously to Protect Children

TUCSON – At a meeting last night of the Pima County Democratic Party’s Executive
Committee, the governing body of Southern Arizona’s largest political organization voted
unanimously (34-0) in favor of a “Resolution Supporting the Protection of Children”.

Resolution Supporting the Protection of Children

Whereas, we have a moral duty to protect the children of our community and to keep them safe,
and

Whereas, certain members of the law enforcement community have recently made public their
desire to ask children in public schools for proof of citizenship, and

Whereas, we are a nation of immigrants, a nation whose strength has always come from its
people working hard and seeking better lives, and

Whereas, our nation’s founding document declares, “all men are created equal, endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness,” and

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Whereas, Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982), in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Equal
Protection Clause of the XIV Amendment prohibits schools from adopting or taking actions that
would deny students access to education based on their immigration status, is the law of the land,
and

Whereas, Justice Brennan argued in Plyler that:

“Even if the State found it expedient to control the conduct of adults by acting against
their children, legislation directing the onus of a parent's misconduct against his children
does not comport with fundamental conceptions of justice.”

“Some classifications are more likely than others to reflect deep-seated prejudice, rather
than legislative rationality in pursuit of some legitimate objective. Legislation predicated
on such prejudice is easily recognized as incompatible with the constitutional
understanding that each person is to be judged individually and is entitled to equal justice
under the law,” and

Whereas, meaningful immigration law and policy reform must recognize the economic reality
that local, state, and federal economies depend upon immigrant workers and that global
economic restructuring has fueled the migration of millions of workers worldwide, and

Whereas, research and empirical data in many independent studies shows immigrants are less
likely to commit crime than their U.S.-born counterparts.

THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED THAT, We, the Pima County Democratic Party, in accordance with our
platform, stand firmly opposed to any steps taken at the local, state, or national levels which seek
to undermine Plyler vs. Doe, and we strongly reject any statements which attempt to link
undocumented immigrants to increases in crime rates and social problems.

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