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SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 578

 
2     WHEREAS, The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of
3 2005 (S. 1033 and H.R. 2330) would require the Secretary of
4 Homeland Security to develop and implement a National Strategy
5 for Border Security, establish a H-5A essential worker visa
6 program for low-skilled workers, and exempt immediate
7 relatives of U.S. citizens from the annual cap on
8 family-sponsored immigrant visas; and
 
9     WHEREAS, The United States House of Representatives passed
10 H.R.4437 that would criminalize the undocumented, their
11 employers, and asylum-seekers alike, tear apart families, and
12 needlessly devastate our economy; and
 
13     WHEREAS, The United States of America was founded by
14 immigrants who traveled from around the world to seek a better
15 life; and
 
16     WHEREAS, The United States has an undocumented population
17 of 11 million immigrants, including half a million in Illinois;
18 and
 
19     WHEREAS, Illinois immigrants fill key roles in our economy
20 such as paying taxes, including contributions to Social
21 Security that they cannot receive back, raising families, and
22 contributing to our schools, churches, neighborhoods, and
23 communities; and
 
24     WHEREAS, Our current immigration system contributes to
25 long backlogs, labor abuses, countless deaths on the border,
26 and vigilante violence and is in dire need of reform to meet
27 the challenges of the 21st century; and
 
28     WHEREAS, Any comprehensive reform must involve a path to
29 citizenship for these hardworking immigrants, as well as

 

 

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1 reunification of families and a safe and orderly process for
2 enabling willing immigrant workers to fill essential jobs in
3 our economy and ensure full labor rights; and
 
4     WHEREAS, The immigration initiative severely punishes
5 illegal employment practices while creating a path to earned
6 permanent legal status for individuals who have been working in
7 the United States, paying taxes, obeying the law, and learning
8 English, and protecting workers by ensuring the right to change
9 jobs, join a union, and report abusive employment situations;
10 and
 
11     WHEREAS, Modernizing our antiquated and dysfunctional
12 immigration system will uphold our nation's basic values of
13 fairness, equal opportunity, and respect for the law;
14 therefore, be it
 
15     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL
16 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Illinois
17 Congressional Delegation and all of Congress to support "The
18 Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005" (S.1033 and
19 H.R.2330), which allows every hardworking, law-abiding
20 individual to achieve the American Dream; and be it further
 
21     RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be delivered to
22 the President of the United States, the President of the
23 Senate, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate, the
24 Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Majority and
25 Minority Leaders of the House of Representatives, and each
26 member of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.