June 10, 2019
Today Councilmember Shireen Ghorbani presented “A Resolution of the Salt Lake County Council Urging Utah’s Federal Delegation to Take Action on Immigration Reform that Reflects Salt Lake County’s Commitment As a Certified Welcoming County.” to the Salt Lake County Council. Moe Hickey, Executive Director of Voices for Utah Children urges the Council to vote in favor of the Resolution. The PDF version of this letter can be found at bottom of this page.
RE: Letter of Support for Proposed Salt Lake Co. Resolution Urging Action on Immigration Reform
To Whom It May Concern:
I am pleased to write this letter of support on behalf of our organization, Voices for Utah Children. We are a non-profit, non-partisan organization that advocates for policies and programs that produce great outcomes for Utah kids. We are based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and have been doing our good work for more than 30 years. Through research and policy analysis, we make a difference in kids’ lives. Kids can’t vote, but they are greatly impacted by changes to policy made by elected leaders. That is why Voices for Utah Children works to raise awareness, influence policy and unite our community on behalf of those kids.
Policies that are welcoming and inclusive of all children, regardless of their citizenship or that of their parents, are critical to ensuring children’s health, safety and success. Through our research and advocacy, we have found that expressing public support for immigrant families (regardless of official documentation) is an important avenue for encouraging community engagement and family investment. That is why we advocate for all children, not just native-born youth.
In addition, immigrants are among our colleagues, friends, neighbors, peers and loved ones. Immigrants are members of our communities, and they are working alongside us to advocate for the wellbeing of all Utah children, no matter their country of origin. We wish to honor their past, present and future contributions to our work on behalf of children, and we encourage any effort to offer public support for their inclusion in our communities.
To that end, we strongly support the proposed resolution, as presented by Councilperson Shireen Ghorbani, entitled “A Resolution of the Salt Lake County Council Urging Utah’s Federal Delegation to Take Action on Immigration Reform that Reflects Salt Lake County’s Commitment As a Certified Welcoming County.”
Please vote in favor of this resolution, without amendments that attempt to separate our immigrant neighbors into categories of “undocumented” or “documented.”
Good policy does not distinguish between children based on where they were born, or how they arrived in our community. We hope that your vote will reflect this understanding.
Yours,
Moe Hickey
Executive Director
Voices for Utah Children
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