Bill Text: IL HR0115 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Condemns President Donald J. Trump's executive order barring refugees from 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 35-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-26 - Resolution Adopted [HR0115 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2017-HR0115-Introduced.html
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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, On January 27, 2017, President Donald J. Trump | ||||||
| 3 | signed an executive order, "Protecting
the nation from foreign | ||||||
| 4 | terrorist entry into the United States", purportedly to protect | ||||||
| 5 | Americans
from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals admitted | ||||||
| 6 | to this country; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, The President's order barred citizens of seven | ||||||
| 8 | Muslim-majority nations - Iran, Iraq,
Libya, Somalia, Sudan, | ||||||
| 9 | Syria, and Yemen - from entering the United States for 90 days;
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| 10 | it suspended all refugee admissions to the country for 120 | ||||||
| 11 | days, and indefinitely barred Syrian
refugees from entering the | ||||||
| 12 | United States; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, The President's cruel, unnecessary, and bigoted | ||||||
| 14 | executive order produced chaos in
the United States immigration | ||||||
| 15 | system in the hours and days immediately following its | ||||||
| 16 | execution; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, The order caused widespread confusion in the air | ||||||
| 18 | and on the ground at U.S. and
international airports; it | ||||||
| 19 | resulted in travelers being detained for hours and questioned | ||||||
| 20 | by U.S.
authorities without legal representation, in some | ||||||
| 21 | instances separating small children from their
parents, and in | ||||||
| 22 | one case, delaying an urgent medical appointment of a | ||||||
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| 1 | four-month old girl with a
heart condition; it prompted vetted | ||||||
| 2 | refugees and legal residents en route to the United States to | ||||||
| 3 | be
blocked and turned back; it triggered mass protests at | ||||||
| 4 | airports throughout the country,
including in Chicago, and it | ||||||
| 5 | spurred legal action against the President; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, President Trump's malicious and arbitrary order | ||||||
| 7 | bears a striking resemblance to another episode when, during | ||||||
| 8 | one of the darkest
times in human history, America closed its | ||||||
| 9 | doors to frightened refugees in search of sanctuary,
ultimately | ||||||
| 10 | resulting in the murder of many of them; in 1939, the German | ||||||
| 11 | ocean liner, the SS St. Louis, set out for the United States by | ||||||
| 12 | way of
Cuba from Hamburg, Germany, with 900 Jewish refugees | ||||||
| 13 | seeking asylum from Nazi
persecution; the passengers were | ||||||
| 14 | denied entry to the United States, Cuba, and Canada because of
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| 15 | strict immigration quotas and were forced to return to Europe; | ||||||
| 16 | more than half of the Voyage of the SS St. Louis passengers who | ||||||
| 17 | returned to Europe
were killed by Nazis in the Holocaust; and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, History has shown that executive decisions about | ||||||
| 19 | immigration, refugee resettlement,
and religious bans can have | ||||||
| 20 | tragic life-or-death consequences that may go unrecognized for | ||||||
| 21 | too
long; and
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| 22 | WHEREAS, The United States, and Illinois in particular, | ||||||
| 23 | have always welcomed, supported, and
protected people of all | ||||||
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| 1 | races, ethnicities, religions, and nationalities, so much so | ||||||
| 2 | that the very self-definition of our country, as expressed both | ||||||
| 3 | in our founding documents and in our public
consciousness, | ||||||
| 4 | relies upon an open embrace of immigrants and refugees; | ||||||
| 5 | therefore, be it
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| 6 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 7 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 8 | condemn President Donald J. Trump's executive order barring | ||||||
| 9 | refugees from the United States and call on him to uphold and | ||||||
| 10 | protect the values of all of the people of this great nation, | ||||||
| 11 | which was founded by immigrants on principles that include | ||||||
| 12 | religious freedom and the notion that all people are welcome | ||||||
| 13 | and created equal; and be it further
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| 14 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 15 | delivered to the President and Vice-President
of the United | ||||||
| 16 | States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States | ||||||
| 17 | Senate, the
Speaker and Minority Leaders of the United States | ||||||
| 18 | House of Representatives, and all members of
the Illinois | ||||||
| 19 | Congressional Delegation.
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