Full Text of HJR0069 103rd General Assembly
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 69 | 2 | | WHEREAS, Under the federal Immigration and Nationality | 3 | | Act, 8 USC §1182(d)(5), the federal government has the | 4 | | discretionary authority to grant parole, permission to | 5 | | temporarily remain in the United States and apply for | 6 | | employment authorization, to any noncitizen "on a case-by-case | 7 | | basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public | 8 | | benefit," and the US Supreme Court has recognized this | 9 | | authority as recently as its 2022 decision in Biden v. Texas, | 10 | | 597 U.S. __, 142 S. Ct. 2528; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. government has exercised its parole | 12 | | authority in a wide variety of ways for humanitarian reasons | 13 | | and significant public benefit; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, A program known as Military Parole in Place | 15 | | already exists for spouses, parents, or children, who are | 16 | | undocumented, of active-duty or former active duty members of | 17 | | the U.S. Armed Forces and the Selected Reserve of the Ready | 18 | | Reserve; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, President Biden has utilized parole more than any | 20 | | other U.S. president in history, extending the program to more | 21 | | than 1 million people over the past three years; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Illinois is home to 1.8 million immigrants, | 2 | | comprising 14% of the State's population, the great majority | 3 | | of whom are naturalized citizens or legal permanent residents, | 4 | | according to the Illinois Immigrant Impact Task Force Report; | 5 | | and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Immigration is critical to maintaining Illinois | 7 | | populations levels, compensating for declines in the | 8 | | native-born population; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Immigrants play a key role in the State of | 10 | | Illinois through cultural, economic, and social contributions, | 11 | | and the dignity and humanity of our immigrant communities | 12 | | transcend their substantial role in the labor force; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. is experiencing an unprecedented labor | 14 | | shortage across multiple sectors of our economy that are vital | 15 | | to our national well-being; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, In the State of Illinois, the fifth largest | 17 | | economy in the United States, critical industries, such as | 18 | | manufacturing, transportation, warehousing, agriculture, | 19 | | healthcare, childcare, senior/home care, hospitality, | 20 | | construction, and education, are experiencing a prolonged | 21 | | staffing shortage that is harming their growth and | 22 | | competitiveness; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as | 2 | | analyzed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Illinois has, on | 3 | | average, 76 available workers for every 100 jobs; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Employment Security | 5 | | (IDES) reports that the largest number of high-demand, | 6 | | high-wage job openings through 2030 are in occupations that | 7 | | require short-term or moderate-term on-the-job training, | 8 | | including over 56,000 annual openings in the restaurant | 9 | | sector, over 41,000 annual openings for laborers, assemblers, | 10 | | and maintenance workers, over 59,000 annual openings for | 11 | | cashiers and retail sales and customer service | 12 | | representatives, and over 15,000 annual openings in home | 13 | | health and personal care aides; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Farm Bureau has indicated that local | 15 | | worker shortages are among the top current challenges for | 16 | | Illinois farmers, suppliers, and processors, including | 17 | | locating qualified truck drivers to haul grain and sourcing | 18 | | enough hands to pick vegetables or manage livestock, and | 19 | | furthermore, that this shortage in the agricultural supply | 20 | | chains continues to not only undermine the financial health of | 21 | | farms in Illinois but, more importantly, threaten food | 22 | | security, and, ultimately, our national security; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois State Board of Education's (ISBE) | 2 | | 2023 Unfilled Positions Report shows that school districts in | 3 | | Illinois reported more unfilled positions in FY23 than they | 4 | | did in FY22; there continues to be a high demand for | 5 | | paraprofessionals and teachers, particularly in the City of | 6 | | Chicago, the Northeast region, and the East Central region, | 7 | | and the demand for paraprofessionals, who often serve special | 8 | | education and bilingual students, outweighs the supply; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Nursing Workforce Center reports | 10 | | that the State is facing an estimated shortfall of nearly | 11 | | 15,000 nurses by 2025 and a deficit of 6,200 physicians by | 12 | | 2030, fueled in part by pandemic burnout and by providers | 13 | | leaving the profession or retiring, as 52% of the almost | 14 | | 195,000 RNs in Illinois are over the age of 55 with 27% | 15 | | planning to retire in the next five years and less than 8,000 | 16 | | nurses graduating each year; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, The Migration Policy Institute estimates that | 18 | | there are more than 12,000 Illinois residents with | 19 | | international healthcare degrees who are prohibited from | 20 | | providing care due to licensing or worker authorization; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) | 22 | | reports that many seniors in the Illinois Community Cares | 23 | | Program (CCP) are already going without the care they should |
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| 1 | | receive due to a severe workforce shortage, and the number of | 2 | | authorized CCP hours not serviced has increased by 46%; much | 3 | | of the increased need for home care is associated with the | 4 | | increasing number of senior Illinoisans, a strong preference | 5 | | for in-home rather than nursing facility services, and a | 6 | | strong preference for culturally competent care; IDES projects | 7 | | that Illinois will need an additional 9,000 home care workers | 8 | | annually for each of the next ten years; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, In the education sector alone, Illinois school | 10 | | districts report a high number of unfilled teaching and | 11 | | paraprofessional positions; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Teachers and paraprofessionals are essential for | 13 | | primary and secondary school students in our State, | 14 | | particularly for special education and bilingual students; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, The existing worker shortage is so great that | 16 | | many school districts have been forced to contract workers | 17 | | directly from abroad, even though long-term immigrants are | 18 | | well-suited to fill these positions; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Despite the State's critical need for labor, | 20 | | nearly half a million Illinoisans who are undocumented are | 21 | | still unable to legally work; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Nearly 30% of Illinoisans who are undocumented | 2 | | have been residing and contributing to the workforce in the | 3 | | U.S. for over 20 years; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, The majority of residents in Illinois who are | 5 | | undocumented reside in mixed status families with U.S. citizen | 6 | | and lawful permanent resident family members; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Long-term immigrant workers in Illinois who are | 8 | | undocumented empower key sectors of the economy, including | 9 | | manufacturing, farming, food production, senior/home care, | 10 | | child care, healthcare, education, construction, hospitality, | 11 | | and warehousing, contributing to our State's prosperity and | 12 | | also contributing approximately $1.5 billion in taxes per | 13 | | year; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Granting work permits will provide a significant | 15 | | public benefit to Illinois' economy by expanding the formal | 16 | | workforce to include all who have the eligibility to work, | 17 | | while increasing taxes paid to the State; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, The exclusion from federal benefits leaves | 19 | | long-term immigrant workers who are undocumented and their | 20 | | families vulnerable and forces the State of Illinois to spend | 21 | | our tax dollars to provide critical health care and other | 22 | | benefits; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Illinois provides limited benefits and resources | 2 | | for individuals who are undocumented, including limited | 3 | | healthcare coverage for low-income qualifying immigrants, much | 4 | | of which would be unnecessary if the undocumented had work | 5 | | permits and could secure such benefits through their | 6 | | employment; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Granting work permits would allow workers to earn | 8 | | a fair wage and secure benefits, including health insurance; | 9 | | and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Granting work permits would aid in the | 11 | | enforcement of existing labor laws, thereby reducing the | 12 | | exploitation of our lowest wage workers, the majority of whom | 13 | | are workers of color and immigrants; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Work permits would enable tens of thousands of | 15 | | students in Illinois who are undocumented and without the | 16 | | protection of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to | 17 | | support themselves and their families, fund their continued | 18 | | education, and contribute to the State and national economies; | 19 | | and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Despite the protections Illinois has enacted to | 21 | | protect long-term immigrant workers who are undocumented, they |
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| 1 | | continue to be at risk of deportation, family separation, | 2 | | exploitation at work, and exclusion from health care and other | 3 | | benefits due to their immigration status, all of which | 4 | | negatively affects Illinois' economy and public safety and the | 5 | | quality-of-life in our communities; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, For all of these reasons, work permits for | 7 | | long-term immigrant workers would be a significant public | 8 | | benefit to the State of Illinois; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Only the federal government can issue work | 10 | | permits to people who are undocumented under its parole | 11 | | authority; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Undocumented immigrants in Illinois and | 13 | | throughout the United States ultimately need permanent | 14 | | solutions, such as updating the federal registry program and | 15 | | other broad legalization legislation, that would enable them | 16 | | to gain permanent lawful status and more fully live with | 17 | | dignity and participate in the economic, civic, and social | 18 | | life of our nation; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. Congress and the White House must act | 20 | | urgently to pass such permanent solutions; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, Short of Congressional action, the White House |
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| 1 | | and the Department of Homeland Security must use all available | 2 | | tools to protect and improve the lives of immigrants as | 3 | | members of our community; therefore, be it | 4 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 5 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 6 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the President of the | 7 | | United States to authorize the DHS Secretary to establish a | 8 | | program to evaluate parole and work authorization on a | 9 | | case-by-case basis for long-term immigrant workers who are | 10 | | undocumented and residing in Illinois to address this State's | 11 | | critical need for labor and to secure the family life for tens | 12 | | of thousands of mixed status families in Illinois and to work | 13 | | with DHS and the US Department of Justice to zealously defend | 14 | | any such program from potential legal challenges; and be it | 15 | | further | 16 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor to work with federal | 17 | | partners to urge, by all possible means, the establishment of | 18 | | such a parole and work authorization program for the long-term | 19 | | immigrant population who are undocumented and residing in | 20 | | Illinois; and be it further | 21 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 22 | | delivered to the Office of the President of the United States | 23 | | and to all members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation. |
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