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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, On September 5, 2017, President Trump and Attorney | ||||||
| 3 | General Jeff
Sessions announced the end of the Deferred Action | ||||||
| 4 | for Childhood Arrivals
(DACA) program; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, In his announcement, Attorney General Sessions | ||||||
| 6 | misled and
mischaracterized those benefiting from the DACA | ||||||
| 7 | program, as well as
immigrant communities in general; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, Information released on September 5, 2017 from | ||||||
| 9 | United States Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) states | ||||||
| 10 | that they expect young people who benefited
from DACA to use | ||||||
| 11 | the remaining time on their work permits to "prepare and
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| 12 | arrange for their departure" to return to their countries of | ||||||
| 13 | birth; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, Hundreds of community members, educational | ||||||
| 15 | institutions, political leaders
from both parties and | ||||||
| 16 | religious and business leaders publicly advocated against the
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| 17 | end of DACA; and | ||||||
| 18 | WHEREAS, DACA benefited young people who came to the United | ||||||
| 19 | States before the age
of 16, giving them a chance to study or | ||||||
| 20 | work if they meet certain criteria,
including age limits, | ||||||
| 21 | physical presence in the United States, educational
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| 1 | requirements, and not having serious criminal convictions; and | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, More than 800,000 immigrants in the United States | ||||||
| 3 | and more than 42,000 in
Illinois have received work permits and | ||||||
| 4 | temporary protection from deportation
through the DACA program | ||||||
| 5 | since 2012; and | ||||||
| 6 | WHEREAS, A 2016 report by the Center for American Progress | ||||||
| 7 | shows that more than 60%
of DACA recipients achieved financial | ||||||
| 8 | independence, and 61% reported helping their
families; in | ||||||
| 9 | addition, DACA recipients reported increased earnings by an | ||||||
| 10 | average of
42%, and 70% of those in school with DACA are | ||||||
| 11 | pursuing a bachelor's degree or
higher; and | ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, Ending the DACA program will have life-changing | ||||||
| 13 | and even tragic life-or-death
consequences; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, The end of DACA is detrimental to individuals and | ||||||
| 15 | families and to
the interests of the residents of the State of | ||||||
| 16 | Illinois; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois values and respects the | ||||||
| 18 | inherent worth of every
person, regardless of immigration | ||||||
| 19 | status, and welcomes the cultural and economic
contributions of | ||||||
| 20 | DACA recipients and their families; therefore, be it
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| 1 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | ||||||
| 2 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we call on President | ||||||
| 3 | Donald J. Trump, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and | ||||||
| 4 | the Congress of the United States of America to preserve | ||||||
| 5 | protections under DACA and to uphold the values of the United | ||||||
| 6 | States and the State of Illinois of providing protection to | ||||||
| 7 | vulnerable young people who have lived much of their lives in | ||||||
| 8 | the United States, attended school in the United States, and | ||||||
| 9 | made the United States their home; and be it further
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| 10 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 11 | delivered to the President of the United States, the Majority | ||||||
| 12 | and Minority Leaders of the
United States Senate, the Speaker | ||||||
| 13 | and Minority Leader of the United States
House of | ||||||
| 14 | Representatives, the Acting Director of the U.S. Department of | ||||||
| 15 | Homeland
Security, the Attorney General of the United States, | ||||||
| 16 | and all members of the
Illinois Congressional Delegation.
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