Reps. Palmer and Garfield offered the following resolution:

            House Resolution No. 235.

            A resolution to urge the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to approve a permanent resident visa for Maria Messina.

            Whereas, Maria Messina has lived in Macomb County since she came to the United States from Italy after Stefano and Caterina Messina adopted her an hour after her birth, an adoption that was not finalized until she turned 18 due to legal difficulties in both the United States and Italy; and

            Whereas, Maria grew up in Shelby Township, participating in soccer and pole vaulting for Utica High School, and now attends Macomb Community College, where she is seeking a degree in business; and

            Whereas, Without permanent resident status, Maria is unable to visit her grandmother in Windsor, obtain a job, establish credit, or become a productive member of our community and resident of our state; and

            Whereas, The Chief Judge of the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Bernard A. Friedman, has ordered the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to approve Maria’s request for a permanent resident visa, saying the agency’s efforts to deny the visa are "arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law. It also lacks common sense, or sense of fairness" and immigration officials' "proposal to deny Maria immigrant status and to deport her to the country of her birth is absurd in the extreme"; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to approve a permanent resident visa for Maria Messina; and be it further

            Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the Honorable Bernard A. Friedman, and the Office of the President of the United States.