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| 1 | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has long welcomed immigrants | ||||||
| 3 | to our State and valued the contributions of newcomers to our | ||||||
| 4 | State's economic, social, cultural, and civic life; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has supported and encouraged | ||||||
| 6 | legal immigrants in their desire to become United States | ||||||
| 7 | citizens; and | ||||||
| 8 | WHEREAS In 2004, the State of Illinois began the New | ||||||
| 9 | Americans Initiative (NAI), a partnership between the Illinois | ||||||
| 10 | Department of Human Services and the Illinois Coalition for | ||||||
| 11 | Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR); and | ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, NAI engages 31 community-based organizations to | ||||||
| 13 | organize volunteer workshops, conduct outreach events, and | ||||||
| 14 | provide immigration legal services to assist long-term lawful | ||||||
| 15 | permanent residents in becoming United States citizens; and | ||||||
| 16 | WHEREAS, NAI works throughout the State of Illinois and | ||||||
| 17 | with the broad diversity of the State's immigrant population, | ||||||
| 18 | including Latinos, Poles, Russians, Chinese, Indians, Koreans, | ||||||
| 19 | Filipinos, Arabs, Africans, and other immigrant and refugee | ||||||
| 20 | groups; and | ||||||
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Since 2005, NAI has organized 1,196 citizenship | ||||||
| 2 | workshops that have engaged 19,723 volunteer community members | ||||||
| 3 | and lawyers to assist 58,180 immigrants with their applications | ||||||
| 4 | for United States citizenship; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, NAI has also provided information regarding | ||||||
| 6 | citizenship to 464,050 immigrants in 25 languages through | ||||||
| 7 | outreach, a website (www.beacitizen.org) and a toll-free | ||||||
| 8 | information line; and | ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, NAI led a campaign to increase the census return | ||||||
| 10 | rate by knocking on 107,833 doors in 26 immigrant communities, | ||||||
| 11 | a campaign that produced increases of up to 18% in return rates | ||||||
| 12 | and will bring $348 million in additional dollars to Illinois | ||||||
| 13 | over next 10 years; and | ||||||
| 14 | WHEREAS, NAI has emerged as a national model for effective | ||||||
| 15 | citizenship assistance services emulated by other states and | ||||||
| 16 | communities; and | ||||||
| 17 | WHEREAS, NAI was awarded the prestigious E Pluribus Unum | ||||||
| 18 | prize in 2010 by the Migration Policy Institute as one of the | ||||||
| 19 | nation's "exceptional initiatives that promote immigrant | ||||||
| 20 | integration"; and
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| 21 | WHEREAS, Based on the success of NAI, ICIRR co-founded and | ||||||
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| 1 | leads the National Partnership for New Americans, a new | ||||||
| 2 | multi-state organization created to spread the citizenship | ||||||
| 3 | model pioneered in Illinois; therefore, be it
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| 4 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 5 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | ||||||
| 6 | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we commend the Illinois | ||||||
| 7 | Department of Human Services and the Illinois Coalition for | ||||||
| 8 | Immigrant and Refugee Rights for their work on the New | ||||||
| 9 | Americans Initiative; and be it further
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| 10 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 11 | presented to the Illinois Department of Human Services and the | ||||||
| 12 | Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights to show our | ||||||
| 13 | appreciation for their work on the New Americans Initiative.
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