Bill Text: IL SR0285 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Condemns President Donald J. Trump's executive orders barring immigrants and refugees from entering the United States and calls on him to uphold and protect the values of all of the people of this great nation, which was founded by immigrants on principles that include religious freedom and the notion that all people are welcome and created equal.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Failed) 2019-01-09 - Session Sine Die [SR0285 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2017-SR0285-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, On January 27, 2017 and on March 6, 2017, | ||||||
3 | President Donald J. Trump signed executive orders, "Protecting
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4 | the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United | ||||||
5 | States", purportedly to protect Americans
from terrorist | ||||||
6 | attacks by foreign nationals admitted to this country; and
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7 | WHEREAS, The President's executive order of March 6, 2017 | ||||||
8 | barred citizens of six Muslim-majority nations - Iran, Libya, | ||||||
9 | Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen - from entering the United | ||||||
10 | States effective March 16, 2017; it also placed a moratorium on | ||||||
11 | issuing new visas to citizens from these countries for 90 days | ||||||
12 | from the enacted date; furthermore, it suspends all refugee | ||||||
13 | admissions in to the country for 120 days; and
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14 | WHEREAS, The President's order of January 27, 2017 | ||||||
15 | originally included Iraq as one of the countries whose citizens | ||||||
16 | would be barred from entering the United States; although Iraq | ||||||
17 | was removed from the revised order, its citizens would still be | ||||||
18 | subjected to additional scrutiny in applications for visas or | ||||||
19 | upon entering the United States; and
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20 | WHEREAS, The President's cruel, unnecessary, and bigoted | ||||||
21 | executive orders produced chaos in
the United States | ||||||
22 | immigration system in the hours and days immediately following |
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1 | its execution; and
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2 | WHEREAS, The orders caused widespread confusion in the air | ||||||
3 | and on the ground at U.S. and
international airports; they | ||||||
4 | resulted in travelers being detained for hours and questioned | ||||||
5 | by U.S.
authorities without legal representation, in some | ||||||
6 | instances separating small children from their
parents, and in | ||||||
7 | one case, delaying an urgent medical appointment of a | ||||||
8 | four-month old girl with a
heart condition; they prompted | ||||||
9 | vetted refugees and legal residents en route to the United | ||||||
10 | States to be
blocked and turned back; they triggered mass | ||||||
11 | protests at airports throughout the country,
including in | ||||||
12 | Chicago, and they spurred legal action against the President; | ||||||
13 | and
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14 | WHEREAS, President Trump's malicious and arbitrary orders | ||||||
15 | bear a striking resemblance to another episode when, during one | ||||||
16 | of the darkest
times in human history, America closed its doors | ||||||
17 | to frightened refugees in search of sanctuary,
ultimately | ||||||
18 | resulting in the murder of many of them; in 1939, the German | ||||||
19 | ocean liner, the SS St. Louis, set out for the United States by | ||||||
20 | way of
Cuba from Hamburg, Germany, with 900 Jewish refugees | ||||||
21 | seeking asylum from Nazi
persecution; the passengers were | ||||||
22 | denied entry to the United States, Cuba, and Canada because of
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23 | strict immigration quotas and were forced to return to Europe; | ||||||
24 | more than half of the Voyage of the SS St. Louis passengers who |
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1 | returned to Europe
were killed by Nazis in the Holocaust; and
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2 | WHEREAS, History has shown that executive decisions about | ||||||
3 | immigration, refugee resettlement,
and religious bans can have | ||||||
4 | tragic life-or-death consequences that may go unrecognized for | ||||||
5 | too
long; and
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6 | WHEREAS, The United States, and Illinois in particular, | ||||||
7 | have always welcomed, supported, and
protected people of all | ||||||
8 | races, ethnicities, religions, and nationalities, so much so | ||||||
9 | that the very self-definition of our country, as expressed both | ||||||
10 | in our founding documents and in our public
consciousness, | ||||||
11 | relies upon an open embrace of immigrants and refugees; | ||||||
12 | therefore, be it
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13 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | ||||||
14 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we condemn President | ||||||
15 | Donald J. Trump's executive orders barring immigrants and | ||||||
16 | refugees from entering the United States and call on him to | ||||||
17 | uphold and protect the values of all of the people of this | ||||||
18 | great nation, which was founded by immigrants on principles | ||||||
19 | that include religious freedom and the notion that all people | ||||||
20 | are welcome and created equal; and be it further
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21 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
22 | delivered to the President and Vice-President
of the United |
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1 | States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States | ||||||
2 | Senate, the
Speaker and Minority Leaders of the United States | ||||||
3 | House of Representatives, and all members of
the Illinois | ||||||
4 | Congressional Delegation.
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