5367221 ACR 20-284, Tania Latin Day Recognition Resolution of 2014

 

A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION

 

20-284

 

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 

October 28, 2014

 

 

To recognize the contributions of Tania Latin in the District of Columbia.

 

            WHEREAS, Tania Latin is 13 years old, a native of Guatemala who immigrated to the United States in 2014 to reunite with her father living in Ward One, in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of the District of Columbia;

 

            WHEREAS, Tania Latin is one of the 60,000 unaccompanied minors that fled El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala and has contributed to the mounting international humanitarian crisis in the United States; these children have crossed the U.S. border, but their journeys are not over;

 

            WHEREAS, an unprecedented number of children have fled their home countries in Central America to seek refuge in the United States due to extreme poverty, unemployment, trauma and the lack of state protection from gang violence and drug-traffickers;

 

            WHEREAS, Tania Latin’s odyssey crossing the Mexican border was featured in the Washington Post magazine on Sunday, August 24, 2014, written by David Montgomery;

 

            WHEREAS, Tania Latin is currently attending the 9^th grade at the Columbia Heights Educational Campus, where she is learning English and making new friends;  

 

            WHEREAS, the District of Columbia is home to a large and vibrant Central American community and has a longstanding history of supporting the advancement of human rights throughout Central America and ensuring the integration of human beings to their new homes, as evidenced by the Language Access Act, the D.C. Healthcare Alliance, the Non-Driver’s Identification Card/ Driver’s License Amendment Act of 2013, and the unanimous decision of the Council and Mayor to opt out of the federal “ Secure Communities program”; and

 

            WHEREAS, the District of Columbia strives to provide language and culturally appropriate services to minorities and people of color.

 

            IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, that the Council of the District of Columbia recognizes and honors Tania Latin’s courage, personal conviction, strength of character, and faith that is inspirational to all Latino immigrants, most especially the children and youth; and declares January 1, 2015, as “El Día de Tania Latin” in the District of Columbia.    

           

            Sec. 2. This resolution may be cited as the “Tania Latin Day Recognition Resolution of 2014”.

 

            Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon the first date of publication in the District of Columbia Register.