Full Text of SR0285 100th General Assembly
SR0285 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | SR0285 | | LRB100 11867 MST 23400 r |
|
| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, On January 27, 2017 and on March 6, 2017, | 3 | | President Donald J. Trump signed executive orders, "Protecting
| 4 | | the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United | 5 | | States", purportedly to protect Americans
from terrorist | 6 | | attacks by foreign nationals admitted to this country; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The President's executive order of March 6, 2017 | 8 | | barred citizens of six Muslim-majority nations - Iran, Libya, | 9 | | Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen - from entering the United | 10 | | States effective March 16, 2017; it also placed a moratorium on | 11 | | issuing new visas to citizens from these countries for 90 days | 12 | | from the enacted date; furthermore, it suspends all refugee | 13 | | admissions in to the country for 120 days; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, The President's order of January 27, 2017 | 15 | | originally included Iraq as one of the countries whose citizens | 16 | | would be barred from entering the United States; although Iraq | 17 | | was removed from the revised order, its citizens would still be | 18 | | subjected to additional scrutiny in applications for visas or | 19 | | upon entering the United States; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, The President's cruel, unnecessary, and bigoted | 21 | | executive orders produced chaos in
the United States | 22 | | immigration system in the hours and days immediately following |
| | | SR0285 | - 2 - | LRB100 11867 MST 23400 r |
|
| 1 | | its execution; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, The orders caused widespread confusion in the air | 3 | | and on the ground at U.S. and
international airports; they | 4 | | resulted in travelers being detained for hours and questioned | 5 | | by U.S.
authorities without legal representation, in some | 6 | | instances separating small children from their
parents, and in | 7 | | one case, delaying an urgent medical appointment of a | 8 | | four-month old girl with a
heart condition; they prompted | 9 | | vetted refugees and legal residents en route to the United | 10 | | States to be
blocked and turned back; they triggered mass | 11 | | protests at airports throughout the country,
including in | 12 | | Chicago, and they spurred legal action against the President; | 13 | | and | 14 | | WHEREAS, President Trump's malicious and arbitrary orders | 15 | | bear a striking resemblance to another episode when, during one | 16 | | of the darkest
times in human history, America closed its doors | 17 | | to frightened refugees in search of sanctuary,
ultimately | 18 | | resulting in the murder of many of them; in 1939, the German | 19 | | ocean liner, the SS St. Louis, set out for the United States by | 20 | | way of
Cuba from Hamburg, Germany, with 900 Jewish refugees | 21 | | seeking asylum from Nazi
persecution; the passengers were | 22 | | denied entry to the United States, Cuba, and Canada because of
| 23 | | strict immigration quotas and were forced to return to Europe; | 24 | | more than half of the Voyage of the SS St. Louis passengers who |
| | | SR0285 | - 3 - | LRB100 11867 MST 23400 r |
|
| 1 | | returned to Europe
were killed by Nazis in the Holocaust; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, History has shown that executive decisions about | 3 | | immigration, refugee resettlement,
and religious bans can have | 4 | | tragic life-or-death consequences that may go unrecognized for | 5 | | too
long; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, The United States, and Illinois in particular, | 7 | | have always welcomed, supported, and
protected people of all | 8 | | races, ethnicities, religions, and nationalities, so much so | 9 | | that the very self-definition of our country, as expressed both | 10 | | in our founding documents and in our public
consciousness, | 11 | | relies upon an open embrace of immigrants and refugees; | 12 | | therefore, be it
| 13 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | 14 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we condemn President | 15 | | Donald J. Trump's executive orders barring immigrants and | 16 | | refugees from entering the United States and call on him to | 17 | | uphold and protect the values of all of the people of this | 18 | | great nation, which was founded by immigrants on principles | 19 | | that include religious freedom and the notion that all people | 20 | | are welcome and created equal; and be it further
| 21 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 22 | | delivered to the President and Vice-President
of the United |
| | | SR0285 | - 4 - | LRB100 11867 MST 23400 r |
|
| 1 | | States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States | 2 | | Senate, the
Speaker and Minority Leaders of the United States | 3 | | House of Representatives, and all members of
the Illinois | 4 | | Congressional Delegation.
|
|