SR0665

LRB094 19832 RSP 56896 r






1

SENATE RESOLUTION


 
2
    WHEREAS, The United States House of Representatives passed 
3
H.R.4437, the Sensenbrenner immigration bill, that would 
4
criminalize the undocumented, their employers, and 
5
asylum-seekers alike, tear apart families, and needlessly 
6
devastate our economy; and
 
7
    WHEREAS, The United States of America was founded by 
8
immigrants who traveled from around the world to seek a better 
9
life; and
 

10
    WHEREAS, The United States has an undocumented population 
11
of 11 million immigrants, including half a million in Illinois; 
12
and
 

13
    WHEREAS, Illinois immigrants fill key roles in our economy 
14
such as paying taxes, including contributions to Social 
15
Security that they cannot receive back, raising families, and 
16
contributing to our schools, churches, neighborhoods, and 
17
communities; and
 
18
    WHEREAS, Our current immigration system contributes to 
19
long backlogs, labor abuses, countless deaths on the border, 
20
and vigilante violence and is in dire need of reform to meet 
21
the challenges of the 21st century; and
 

22
    WHEREAS, Any comprehensive reform must involve a path to 
23
citizenship for these hardworking immigrants, as well as 
24
reunification of families and a safe and orderly process for 
25
enabling willing immigrant workers to fill essential jobs in 
26
our economy and ensure full labor rights; and
 

27
    WHEREAS, The immigration initiative severely punishes 
28
illegal employment practices while creating a path to earned 
29
permanent legal status for individuals who have been working in 
 


 






SR0665
- 2 -
LRB094 19832 RSP 56896 r




1
the United States, paying taxes, obeying the law, and learning 
2
English, and protecting workers by ensuring the right to change 
3
jobs, join a union, and report abusive employment situations; 
4
and
 

5
    WHEREAS, Modernizing our antiquated and dysfunctional 
6
immigration system will uphold our nation's basic values of 
7
fairness, equal opportunity, and respect for the law; 
8
therefore, be it
 

9
    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL 
10
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Illinois 
11
Congressional Delegation and all of Congress to support "The 
12
Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005" (S.1033 and 
13
H.R.2330), which allows every hardworking, law-abiding 
14
individual to achieve the American Dream; and be it further
 

15
    RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be delivered to 
16
the President of the United States, the Speaker of the House of 
17
Representatives, the President of the Senate, the Majority and 
18
Minority Leaders of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of 
19
Representatives, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the House 
20
of Representatives, and each member of the Illinois 
21
Congressional Delegation.