Bill Text: IL HR0215 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Calls upon the Biden Administration to take immediate steps, including executive orders, administrative policy changes, and regulatory changes, to undo the harmful immigration policies of the Trump Administration, including but not limited to halting and dismantling the immigration enforcement machinery that has harmed and separated thousands of Illinois families. Calls upon the Biden Administration, Senator Richard Durbin, Senator Tammy Duckworth, and the Illinois U.S. House Delegation to enact legislation to create a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants, fix other provisions of our immigrations laws that exclude and otherwise harm immigrants, address the root causes of international migration, and ground our immigration laws in justice and equity.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-05-06 - Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Rita Mayfield [HR0215 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-HR0215-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Illinois is home to 1.8 million immigrants who | ||||||
3 | have traveled to the State of Illinois
from around the world to | ||||||
4 | seek a better life and to 1.7 million U.S.-born citizens who | ||||||
5 | have at
least one immigrant parent; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Our nation's immigration system should uphold our | ||||||
7 | basic values of family, economic
opportunity, fairness, and | ||||||
8 | second chances; and
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9 | WHEREAS, The U.S. immigration system, which has resulted | ||||||
10 | in long backlogs and deaths on the
border, is unjust and | ||||||
11 | inequitable and is in dire need of reforms, including a | ||||||
12 | pathway to
citizenship for all undocumented immigrants; and
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13 | WHEREAS, The current coronavirus pandemic has highlighted | ||||||
14 | the importance of immigrants,
including the undocumented, as | ||||||
15 | "essential workers" who have sustained, for both our State and | ||||||
16 | our nation, our health care system, food chain, and other | ||||||
17 | vital services, often at great risk to their own and their
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18 | families' health and well-being; and
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19 | WHEREAS, The administration of Donald Trump further | ||||||
20 | aggravated the flaws within our
immigration system by | ||||||
21 | unleashing immigration enforcement, separating children and |
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1 | parents at
the southern border, gutting refugee and asylum | ||||||
2 | processing, further complicating legal
immigration through | ||||||
3 | such policies as the new public charge rule, attempting to end | ||||||
4 | protective
programs such as DACA and Temporary Protected | ||||||
5 | Status (TPS), imposing a new naturalization
test, further | ||||||
6 | complicating the process to apply for citizenship, and | ||||||
7 | instituting many other policies that
have created fear, | ||||||
8 | confusion, and pain among families throughout our State and | ||||||
9 | nation; and
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10 | WHEREAS, The election and inauguration of Joe Biden as | ||||||
11 | president provides an opportunity to
not only undo his | ||||||
12 | predecessor's harmful policies but to also address the more | ||||||
13 | basic inequities
and racial disparities within our immigration | ||||||
14 | system and to enact a pathway to citizenship that
would | ||||||
15 | protect DACA and TPS recipients, essential workers, and all | ||||||
16 | undocumented immigrants,
currently numbering approximately 11 | ||||||
17 | million nationwide and 450,000 in Illinois; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Current immigration proposals in Congress would | ||||||
19 | exclude those convicted of prior
felonies and misdemeanors, | ||||||
20 | provisions that exclude approximately one-third of potential
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21 | applicants, disproportionately affecting Black immigrants; and
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22 | WHEREAS, Excluding those who have already served their | ||||||
23 | time and are currently contributing
to their communities is a |
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1 | form of double punishment, which is antithetical to our values | ||||||
2 | as a state and as
a nation; and
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3 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has historically welcomed | ||||||
4 | immigrants, and elected officials of
both major political | ||||||
5 | parties have supported legislation, policies, and programs | ||||||
6 | that have enabled
immigrants to work, learn, raise families, | ||||||
7 | build businesses and communities, and express their
voice in | ||||||
8 | the civic life of our State; and
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9 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has more recently taken | ||||||
10 | national leadership on welcoming
policies for immigrants, | ||||||
11 | including funding for citizenship and community outreach | ||||||
12 | programs,
educational aid for immigrant students, driver's | ||||||
13 | licenses for immigrant motorists, and protections
against | ||||||
14 | federal immigration enforcement policies that undermine | ||||||
15 | relations between immigrant
communities and local police; and
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16 | WHEREAS, These policies adopted by the State of Illinois | ||||||
17 | intend to separate state law
enforcement from federal | ||||||
18 | immigration enforcement and are designed to protect all | ||||||
19 | immigrants
in our State regardless of prior interaction with | ||||||
20 | the legal system; and
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21 | WHEREAS, At this moment when our nation faces a reckoning | ||||||
22 | on racial justice, prompted by
the deaths of George Floyd, |
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1 | Breonna Taylor, and so many other Black Americans but | ||||||
2 | reflecting
historic discrimination and disinvestment against | ||||||
3 | Black, Indigenous, and other communities of
color, we need to | ||||||
4 | ensure that our immigration laws and policies and other laws | ||||||
5 | that affect
immigrant communities must be grounded in racial | ||||||
6 | equity; therefore, be it
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7 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
8 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
9 | we call upon the Biden
Administration to take immediate steps, | ||||||
10 | including executive orders, administrative policy
changes, and | ||||||
11 | regulatory changes, to undo the harmful immigration policies | ||||||
12 | of the Trump
Administration, including but not limited to | ||||||
13 | halting and dismantling the immigration enforcement
machinery | ||||||
14 | that has harmed and separated thousands of Illinois families; | ||||||
15 | and be it further
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16 | RESOLVED, That we call upon
the Biden Administration, | ||||||
17 | Senator Richard Durbin, Senator Tammy Duckworth, and the | ||||||
18 | Illinois
U.S. House Delegation to enact legislation to create | ||||||
19 | a pathway to citizenship for all
undocumented immigrants, fix | ||||||
20 | other provisions of our immigrations laws that exclude and
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21 | otherwise harm immigrants, address the root causes of | ||||||
22 | international migration, and ground our
immigration laws in | ||||||
23 | justice and equity; and be it further
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1 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
2 | delivered to President Biden, the Majority
Leader and Minority | ||||||
3 | Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority | ||||||
4 | Leader of
the United States House of Representatives, Senators | ||||||
5 | Durbin and Duckworth, and all members
of the Illinois U.S. | ||||||
6 | House Delegation.
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