Bill Text: IL HB4868 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Department of Veterans' Affairs Act. Establishes a military immigrant family legacy program within the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Requires the program to be jointly developed and implemented by the Director of Veterans' Affairs (Director) and the Adjutant General of the Department of Military Affairs, in consultation with the Department of Human Services' Office of Welcoming Centers for Refugee and Immigrant Services. Provides that the primary purpose of the program shall be to assist uniformed service members, veterans, reserve component members, and their family members to secure legal immigration status in the United States, including, but not limited to, citizenship. Provides that 2 military immigrant family legacy program coordinators shall be appointed to administer the program. Sets forth the coordinators' duties, including, but not limited to: (1) assisting intended recipients, who may qualify for adjustment of status, special immigration status through the federal Parole in Place program, or any other sort of immigration relief, including relief that can lead to citizenship; communicating with the Director and the Adjutant General and the Department of Human Services' Office of Welcoming Centers for Refugee and Immigrant Services regarding existing policies and regulations pertaining to the needs of intended recipients and to make recommendations regarding the improvement of benefits and services to such intended recipients; and (3) developing and maintaining a clearinghouse for information and resources relating to the program as well as other federal, State, local, and nonprofit programs that may offer assistance to intended recipients in immigration matters. Requires program coordinators to submit a report to the Director and the Adjutant General on January 1, 2026 and each January 1 thereafter that provides a description and evaluation of the coordinators' activities for the preceding calendar year as well as any recommendations for future programmatic changes. Requires the Director and the Adjutant General to jointly submit the report on an annual basis to the Governor and the General Assembly. Makes conforming changes to the Department of Human Services Act and the Military Code of Illinois.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-07 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB4868 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB4868-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4868 Introduced , by Rep. Hoan Huynh SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
See Index
Amends the Department of Veterans' Affairs Act. Establishes a military immigrant family legacy program within the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Requires the program to be jointly developed and implemented by the Director of Veterans' Affairs (Director) and the Adjutant General of the Department of Military Affairs, in consultation with the Department of Human Services' Office of Welcoming Centers for Refugee and Immigrant Services. Provides that the primary purpose of the program shall be to assist uniformed service members, veterans, reserve component members, and their family members to secure legal immigration status in the United States, including, but not limited to, citizenship. Provides that 2 military immigrant family legacy program coordinators shall be appointed to administer the program. Sets forth the coordinators' duties, including, but not limited to: (1) assisting intended recipients, who may qualify for adjustment of status, special immigration status through the federal Parole in Place program, or any other sort of immigration relief, including relief that can lead to citizenship; communicating with the Director and the Adjutant General and the Department of Human Services' Office of Welcoming Centers for Refugee and Immigrant Services regarding existing policies and regulations pertaining to the needs of intended recipients and to make recommendations regarding the improvement of benefits and services to such intended recipients; and (3) developing and maintaining a clearinghouse for information and resources relating to the program as well as other federal, State, local, and nonprofit programs that may offer assistance to intended recipients in immigration matters. Requires program coordinators to submit a report to the Director and the Adjutant General on January 1, 2026 and each January 1 thereafter that provides a description and evaluation of the coordinators' activities for the preceding calendar year as well as any recommendations for future programmatic changes. Requires the Director and the Adjutant General to jointly submit the report on an annual basis to the Governor and the General Assembly. Makes conforming changes to the Department of Human Services Act and the Military Code of Illinois.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning State government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Department of Human Services Act is amended
by adding Section 10-68 as follows:
(20 ILCS 1305/10-68 new)
Sec. 10-68. Advise on State military immigrant family
legacy program coordinators. The Department's Office of
Welcoming Centers for Refugee and Immigrant Services shall
advise the State military immigrant family legacy program
coordinators as provided in Section 40 of the Department of
Veterans' Affairs Act.
Section 10. The Military Code of Illinois is amended by
adding Section 22-7.1 as follows:
(20 ILCS 1805/22-7.1 new)
Sec. 22-7.1. State military immigrant family legacy
program support coordinator. The Adjutant General shall
encourage the development of and provide for the establishment
of a State military immigrant family legacy program
coordinator, as provided in Section 40 of the Department of
Veterans' Affairs Act.

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Section 15. The Department of Veterans' Affairs Act is
amended by changing Section 2 and by adding Section 40 as
follows:
(20 ILCS 2805/2) (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 67)
Sec. 2. Powers and duties. The Department shall have the
following powers and duties:
To perform such acts at the request of any veteran, or his
or her spouse, surviving spouse or dependents as shall be
reasonably necessary or reasonably incident to obtaining or
endeavoring to obtain for the requester any advantage, benefit
or emolument accruing or due to such person under any law of
the United States, the State of Illinois or any other state or
governmental agency by reason of the service of such veteran,
and in pursuance thereof shall:
(1) Contact veterans, their survivors and dependents
and advise them of the benefits of state and federal laws
and assist them in obtaining such benefits;
(2) Establish field offices and direct the activities
of the personnel assigned to such offices;
(3) Create and maintain a volunteer field force; the
volunteer field force may include representatives from the
following without limitation: educational institutions,
labor organizations, veterans organizations, employers,
churches, and farm organizations; the volunteer field

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force may not process federal veterans assistance claims;
(4) Conduct informational and training services;
(5) Conduct educational programs through newspapers,
periodicals, social media, television, and radio for the
specific purpose of disseminating information affecting
veterans and their dependents;
(6) Coordinate the services and activities of all
state departments having services and resources affecting
veterans and their dependents;
(7) Encourage and assist in the coordination of
agencies within counties giving service to veterans and
their dependents;
(8) Cooperate with veterans organizations and other
governmental agencies;
(9) Make, alter, amend and promulgate reasonable rules
and procedures for the administration of this Act;
(10) Make and publish annual reports to the Governor
regarding the administration and general operation of the
Department;
(11) (Blank);
(12) (Blank); and
(13) Provide informational resources and education to
veterans returning from deployment regarding service
animals for individuals with disabilities, including, but
not limited to, resources and education on service animals
that guide people who are blind, pull a wheelchair, alert

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a person with hearing loss, protect a person having a
seizure, assist a person with a traumatic brain injury,
and calm a person with post-traumatic stress disorder
during an anxiety attack or psychiatric episode; and .
(14) To encourage the development of and provide for
the establishment of a State military immigrant family
legacy program coordinator, as provided in Section 40.
The Department may accept and hold on behalf of the State,
if for the public interest, a grant, gift, devise or bequest of
money or property to the Department made for the general
benefit of Illinois veterans, including the conduct of
informational and training services by the Department and
other authorized purposes of the Department. The Department
shall cause each grant, gift, devise or bequest to be kept as a
distinct fund and shall invest such funds in the manner
provided by the Public Funds Investment Act, as now or
hereafter amended, and shall make such reports as may be
required by the Comptroller concerning what funds are so held
and the manner in which such funds are invested. The
Department may make grants from these funds for the general
benefit of Illinois veterans. Grants from these funds, except
for the funds established under Sections 2.01a and 2.03, shall
be subject to appropriation.
The Department has the power to make grants, from funds
appropriated from the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund,
for benefits authorized under the Survivors Compensation Act.

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(Source: P.A. 99-314, eff. 8-7-15; 99-576, eff. 7-15-16;
100-84, eff. 1-1-18.)
(20 ILCS 2805/40 new)
Sec. 40. Military Immigrant Family Legacy Program.
(a) As used in this Section:
"Adjutant General" means the Adjutant General of the
Department of Military Affairs.
"Coordinator" means an employee of the Department
appointed by the Director of Veterans' Affairs, or an employee
of the Department of Military Affairs appointed by the
Adjutant General, to serve as a military immigrant family
legacy program coordinator as provided under subsection (c).
"Department" means the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
"Director" means the Director of the Department of
Veterans' Affairs.
"Intended recipients" means uniformed service members,
veterans, reserve component members, and their family members.
"Program" means the military immigrant family legacy
program.
"Qualifying condition" means a diagnosis of post-traumatic
stress disorder or traumatic brain injury made by, or an
experience of military sexual trauma, as described in 38
U.S.C. 1720D, as amended from time to time, disclosed to an
individual licensed to provide health care services at a
United States Department of Veterans Affairs facility or to an

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individual licensed to provide health care services within the
State of Illinois.
"Reserve component members" means individuals serving in
the United States Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps
Reserve, the Army National Guard, the Air National Guard, or
Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service during the time the
unit was federally recognized as a reserve component.
"Uniformed services" means the Army, Navy, Marine Corps,
Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, Public Health
Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Commissioned Officer Corps of the United
States.
"Uniformed service member" means a member of the United
States Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force Corps, Marine Corps,
Coast Guard, Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, or
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned
Officer Corps serving on active duty.
"Veteran" means a person who served on active duty in the
uniformed services of the United States, or in the Army
National Guard, Air National Guard, or Illinois National
Guard, or as a commissioned officer in the Public Health
Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, or as a cadet at a United States armed forces
service academy, and who has been released from such service
under other than dishonorable conditions. "Veteran" includes
any veteran with a qualifying condition who has received a

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discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable from such
service.
(b) There is established within the Department, in
conjunction with the Department of Military Affairs, a
military immigrant family legacy program which shall be
jointly developed and implemented by the Director and the
Adjutant General, in consultation with the Department of Human
Services' Office of Welcoming Centers for Refugee and
Immigrant Services, and in accordance with the provisions of
this Section. The primary purpose of the program shall be to
assist intended recipients to secure legal immigration status
in the United States, including, but not limited to,
citizenship.
(c) Two military immigrant family legacy program
coordinators shall be appointed, one appointed by the Director
and one by the Adjutant General, to administer the program.
Each coordinator shall be a veteran. The coordinators' duties
shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Assisting intended recipients, who may qualify for
adjustment of status, special immigration status through
the federal Parole in Place program authorized by Section
1758 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92), or any other sort of
immigration relief, including relief that can lead to
citizenship, in securing legal representation or
consultation by qualified immigration attorneys or duly

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authorized representatives of the Board Of Immigration
Appeals as may be necessary to obtain such relief.
(2) Communicating with the Director and the Adjutant
General and the Office of Welcoming Centers for Refugee
and Immigrant Services regarding existing policies and
regulations pertaining to the needs of intended recipients
and to make recommendations regarding the improvement of
benefits and services to such intended recipients.
(3) Serving as liaison between the Department and the
Department of Military Affairs, the United States
Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, the United States Department of
Veterans Affairs, the United States Department of Defense,
local veterans' services agencies, State agencies,
community groups, advocates, and other veterans and
military organizations and interested parties for the
purpose of coordinating efforts to provide immigration
relief to intended recipients.
(4) Consulting with qualified immigration attorneys or
duly authorized and approved representatives of the Board
of Immigration Appeals to facilitate such coordination
with the United States Citizenship and Immigration
Services or any other appropriate agency.
(5) Advocating for intended recipients.
(6) Developing and maintaining a clearinghouse for
information and resources relating to the program as well

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as other federal, State, local, and nonprofit programs
that may offer assistance to intended recipients in
immigration matters.
(7) Promoting events and activities that educate and
assist intended recipients, including, but not limited to,
veteran human rights conferences and veterans benefit and
resources events.
(8) Including the contributions that intended
recipients have made on behalf of the United States and
this State on the Department's official website.
(9) Developing information to be made available to
congressionally chartered veterans' organizations, and
local veterans' services agencies to provide a general
overview of the program, including, but not limited to,
its purpose and the eligibility requirements for
adjustment of status, citizenship, or any other form of
available relief.
(10) Preparing reports on topics, including, but not
limited to, the demographics of intended recipients
residing in the State, including the number of such
intended recipients by county, an estimate of how many may
be eligible for naturalization, and the unique needs of
the intended recipients within Illinois to the Director,
the Adjutant General, and the Department of Human
Services' Office of Welcoming Centers for Refugee and
Immigrant Services.

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(d) The coordinators shall submit a report to the Director
and the Adjutant General on January 1, 2026 and each January 1
thereafter. Such report shall include, but not be limited to,
a description and evaluation of the coordinators' activities
for the preceding calendar year as well as any recommendations
for future programmatic changes. The Director and the Adjutant
General shall jointly submit the report on an annual basis to
the Governor and the General Assembly.
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INDEX
Statutes amended in order of appearance