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HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, On January 27, 2017, President Donald J. Trump
3signed an executive order, "Protecting the nation from foreign
4terrorist entry into the United States", purportedly to protect
5Americans from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals admitted
6to this country; and
7 WHEREAS, The President's order barred citizens of seven
8Muslim-majority nations - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan,
9Syria, and Yemen - from entering the United States for 90 days;
10it suspended all refugee admissions to the country for 120
11days, and indefinitely barred Syrian refugees from entering the
12United States; and
13 WHEREAS, The President's cruel, unnecessary, and bigoted
14executive order produced chaos in the United States immigration
15system in the hours and days immediately following its
16execution; and
17 WHEREAS, The order caused widespread confusion in the air
18and on the ground at U.S. and international airports; it
19resulted in travelers being detained for hours and questioned
20by U.S. authorities without legal representation, in some
21instances separating small children from their parents, and in
22one case, delaying an urgent medical appointment of a

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1four-month old girl with a heart condition; it prompted vetted
2refugees and legal residents en route to the United States to
3be blocked and turned back; it triggered mass protests at
4airports throughout the country, including in Chicago, and it
5spurred legal action against the President; and
6 WHEREAS, President Trump's malicious and arbitrary order
7bears a striking resemblance to another episode when, during
8one of the darkest times in human history, America closed its
9doors to frightened refugees in search of sanctuary, ultimately
10resulting in the murder of many of them; in 1939, the German
11ocean liner, the SS St. Louis, set out for the United States by
12way of Cuba from Hamburg, Germany, with 900 Jewish refugees
13seeking asylum from Nazi persecution; the passengers were
14denied entry to the United States, Cuba, and Canada because of
15strict immigration quotas and were forced to return to Europe;
16more than half of the Voyage of the SS St. Louis passengers who
17returned to Europe were killed by Nazis in the Holocaust; and
18 WHEREAS, History has shown that executive decisions about
19immigration, refugee resettlement, and religious bans can have
20tragic life-or-death consequences that may go unrecognized for
21too long; and
22 WHEREAS, The United States, and Illinois in particular,
23have always welcomed, supported, and protected people of all

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1races, ethnicities, religions, and nationalities, so much so
2that the very self-definition of our country, as expressed both
3in our founding documents and in our public consciousness,
4relies upon an open embrace of immigrants and refugees;
5therefore, be it
6 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
7HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
8condemn President Donald J. Trump's executive order barring
9refugees from the United States and call on him to uphold and
10protect the values of all of the people of this great nation,
11which was founded by immigrants on principles that include
12religious freedom and the notion that all people are welcome
13and created equal; and be it further
14 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
15delivered to the President and Vice-President of the United
16States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States
17Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leaders of the United States
18House of Representatives, and all members of the Illinois
19Congressional Delegation.