SR0578enr 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

09400SR0578 Enrolled LRB094 18571 HSS 53909 r

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 578

WHEREAS, The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005 (S. 1033 and H.R. 2330) would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and implement a National Strategy for Border Security, establish a H-5A essential worker visa program for low-skilled workers, and exempt immediate relatives of U.S. citizens from the annual cap on family-sponsored immigrant visas; and

WHEREAS, The United States House of Representatives passed H.R.4437 that would criminalize the undocumented, their employers, and asylum-seekers alike, tear apart families, and needlessly devastate our economy; and

WHEREAS, The United States of America was founded by immigrants who traveled from around the world to seek a better life; and

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

WHEREAS, Illinois immigrants fill key roles in our economy such as paying taxes, including contributions to Social Security that they cannot receive back, raising families, and contributing to our schools, churches, neighborhoods, and communities; and

WHEREAS, Our current immigration system contributes to long backlogs, labor abuses, countless deaths on the border, and vigilante violence and is in dire need of reform to meet the challenges of the 21st century; and

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

WHEREAS, The immigration initiative severely punishes illegal employment practices while creating a path to earned permanent legal status for individuals who have been working in the United States, paying taxes, obeying the law, and learning English, and protecting workers by ensuring the right to change jobs, join a union, and report abusive employment situations; and

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

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

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