Senate Resolution 25-005 Introduced

Senate Resolution 25-005

• Page 1, Line 101Concerning the United States federal government's unjust

• Page 1, Line 102use of the Alien Enemies Act to indiscriminately target

• Page 1, Line 103immigrants.

• Page 1, Line 1WHEREAS, In his inaugural address on January 20, 2025,

• Page 1, Line 2President Donald J. Trump announced his plan to invoke the Alien

• Page 1, Line 3Enemies Act of 1798 for the federal government "to use the full and

• Page 1, Line 4immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the

• Page 1, Line 5presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to United States soil, including our cities and inner cities"; and

• Page 1, Line 6

• Page 1, Line 7WHEREAS, At a campaign stop in Aurora, Colorado on October

• Page 1, Line 811, 2024, Trump suggested the use of the Alien Enemies Act as part of

• Page 1, Line 9his "Operation Aurora" plan to "target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil"; and

• Page 1, Line 10

• Page 1, Line 11WHEREAS, The Alien Enemies Act is named in Project 2025, the

• Page 1, Line 12blueprint for the Trump administration that is currently being enacted in the United States without regard for due process of the law; and

• Page 1, Line 13

• Page 1, Line 14WHEREAS, After his inauguration, President Trump signed

• Page 2, Line 1several executive orders related to immigration, including an executive

• Page 2, Line 2order titled "Protecting the American People Against Invasion", which is

• Page 2, Line 3designed to "expand the use of expedited removal" of undocumented immigrants under the guise of national security; and

• Page 2, Line 4

• Page 2, Line 5WHEREAS, President Trump has declared a national emergency

• Page 2, Line 6at the United States-Mexico border and has instructed several federal

• Page 2, Line 7agencies, including Customs and Border Patrol and Immigration Customs

• Page 2, Line 8and Enforcement, to indiscriminately target immigrants and undocumented people across the country; and

• Page 2, Line 9

• Page 2, Line 10WHEREAS, President Trump has a history of both using

• Page 2, Line 11dehumanizing language to describe immigrants and lying about them; in

• Page 2, Line 12his 2016 campaign, he routinely called immigrants and migrants "criminals and rapists"; and

• Page 2, Line 13

• Page 2, Line 14WHEREAS, During his previous term, President Trump used his

• Page 2, Line 15authority as president to separate families and detain migrants, including children, in concentration camps at the United States-Mexico border; and

• Page 2, Line 16

• Page 2, Line 17WHEREAS, The Alien Enemies Act was first passed in 1798 as

• Page 2, Line 18one of four Alien and Sedition Acts, giving authority during wartime to

• Page 2, Line 19the president to detain or deport the natives and citizens of an enemy nation; and

• Page 2, Line 20

• Page 2, Line 21WHEREAS, The United States is not at war with any country, and

• Page 2, Line 22therefore there are neither natives nor citizens of an enemy nation to be detained; and

• Page 2, Line 23

• Page 2, Line 24WHEREAS, In 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl

• Page 2, Line 25Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt used the Alien Enemies Act to

• Page 2, Line 26arrest and unjustly detain innocent Japanese community leaders on the

• Page 2, Line 27west coast of the United States without due process in Department of Justice "internment" camps; and

• Page 2, Line 28

• Page 2, Line 29WHEREAS, In 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order

• Page 2, Line 309066, which authorized the forced removal of at least 120,000 people of

• Page 2, Line 31Japanese descent, of whom approximately 70,000 were American

• Page 2, Line 32citizens, for placement into concentration camps, stripping them of their possessions, businesses, livelihoods, and dignity; and

• Page 2, Line 33

• Page 2, Line 34WHEREAS, The concentration camps were built hastily by the

• Page 3, Line 1War Relocation Authority and kept the Japanese and Japanese-American

• Page 3, Line 2incarcerees under armed surveillance at all times, forcing the detainees to

• Page 3, Line 3face the hardships of extreme weather conditions, lack of privacy, mental and emotional stress, and the disruption of family unity; and

• Page 3, Line 4

• Page 3, Line 5WHEREAS, One of the ten United States concentration camps,

• Page 3, Line 6Amache, was built in Granada, Colorado and remains a physical reminder of this dark chapter of American history; and

• Page 3, Line 7

• Page 3, Line 8WHEREAS, In 1988, the Civil Liberties Act was signed into law,

• Page 3, Line 9which issued a formal apology for the wartime incarceration order and provided reparations to the living survivors of the incarceration; and

• Page 3, Line 10

• Page 3, Line 11WHEREAS, Several times since 1988, Congress and the executive

• Page 3, Line 12branch have issued apologies for wartime incarceration, thereby acknowledging the error of this action; and

• Page 3, Line 13

• Page 3, Line 14WHEREAS, The physical, emotional, and mental trauma of the

• Page 3, Line 15incarceration is still felt to this day by Japanese-American survivors and their descendants; and

• Page 3, Line 16

• Page 3, Line 17WHEREAS, Individuals, including many Japanese-American

• Page 3, Line 18descendants of wartime incarceration, have voiced their concerns about

• Page 3, Line 19the dehumanizing language and actions against immigrants in the United

• Page 3, Line 20States and have drawn parallels between the Japanese-American mass

• Page 3, Line 21incarceration and the actions of the federal government today against immigrants and their families; now, therefore,

• Page 3, Line 22

• Page 3, Line 23Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly of the State of Colorado:

• Page 3, Line 24That we, the members of the Colorado Senate:

• Page 3, Line 25

• Page 3, Line 26(1)  Express disapproval of the federal government's proposed use

• Page 3, Line 27of the Alien Enemies Act to target non-citizens living peacefully in the United States; and

• Page 3, Line 28

• Page 3, Line 29(2)  Call on Governor Jared Polis to vocalize his support for all

• Page 3, Line 30Coloradans and use his office to build solidarity and trust with immigrant communities; and

• Page 3, Line 31

• Page 3, Line 32(3)  Call on Senators Michael Bennett and John Hickenlooper of

• Page 4, Line 1Colorado to sign on to Senator Mazie Hirono's introduced bill in the

• Page 4, Line 2United States Senate, the Neighbors Not Enemies Act, to repeal the Alien Enemies Act; and

• Page 4, Line 3

• Page 4, Line 4(4)  Call on Representatives Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse, Jeff

• Page 4, Line 5Hurd, Lauren Boebert, Jeff Crank, Jason Crow, Brittany Pettersen, and

• Page 4, Line 6Gabe Evans of Colorado to sign on to Representative Ilhan Omar's

• Page 4, Line 7introduced bill in the United States House of Representatives, the Neighbors Not Enemies Act, to repeal the Alien Enemies Act.