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1		HOUSE RESOLUTION
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
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;
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.