Bill Text: IL HR0950 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Urges Congress and the President of the United States to grant the right and privilege of United States residency to all farm, agricultural, and manufacturing workers who have served and labored during the COVID-19 crisis.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-01-11 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Anne Stava-Murray [HR0950 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HR0950-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have, as
a nation, been advised to adhere to all public health and CDC
guidelines in order to prevent further spread; and
WHEREAS, While most have yielded and exercised
responsibility, there are marginalized groups of workers in
essential sectors all across the State who are inadvertently
exempt and unable to adhere to the advisory; and
WHEREAS, Farm, agricultural, and manufacturing workers,
all of whom must leave their homes day in and day out to assist
in the cultivation, harvest, and preparation of the food and
produce we put on our tables, find themselves within this
unprotected marginalized group; and
WHEREAS, The nature of this painstaking and backbreaking
work, in addition to the equipment necessary to perform it,
makes social distancing impractical and impossible for
workers, which puts them at a heightened risk of contracting
the COVID-19 virus; and
WHEREAS, Since mid-March, President Donald J. Trump has
correctly analogized the fight against the COVID-19 virus as a
war and has since used presidential wartime powers to combat

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the virus; and
WHEREAS, Farm, agricultural, and manufacturing workers,
especially those who cannot practice social distancing at work,
as well as their immediate families, are arguably mirroring the
risks taken by our military personnel during the COVID-19
crisis; and
WHEREAS, Federal law currently grants the right to
naturalization and citizenship to all English-speaking persons
of good moral character who serve in our armed forces during
wartime or hostilities, even when undocumented; and
WHEREAS, Nearly fifty percent of farm, agricultural, and
manufacturing workers currently laboring during this pandemic
crisis have been labeled essential workers by state and federal
governments alike; it is our duty to reciprocate their
sacrifice by assisting and providing them with a path to
residency followed by a path to naturalization; therefore, be
it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we urge Congress and the President of the United States to
grant the right and privilege of United States residency to all
farm, agricultural, and manufacturing workers who have served

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and labored during the COVID-19 crisis; and be it further
RESOLVED, That this right and privilege of residency should
be granted without regard to previous immigration status; and
be it further
RESOLVED, That, in order to facilitate the identification
of these essential workers, employers and their agents should
be granted immunity from any adverse action for having
employed, or otherwise acquired the services of, persons who
were identified as being essential workers during the COVID-19
crisis; and be it further
RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
delivered to the President of the United States and the leaders
of the U.S. House and Senate.