SR0285 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


  

 


 
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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, On January 27, 2017 and on March 6, 2017,
3President Donald J. Trump signed executive orders, "Protecting
4the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United
5States", purportedly to protect Americans from terrorist
6attacks by foreign nationals admitted to this country; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The President's executive order of March 6, 2017
8barred citizens of six Muslim-majority nations - Iran, Libya,
9Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen - from entering the United
10States effective March 16, 2017; it also placed a moratorium on
11issuing new visas to citizens from these countries for 90 days
12from the enacted date; furthermore, it suspends all refugee
13admissions in to the country for 120 days; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The President's order of January 27, 2017
15originally included Iraq as one of the countries whose citizens
16would be barred from entering the United States; although Iraq
17was removed from the revised order, its citizens would still be
18subjected to additional scrutiny in applications for visas or
19upon entering the United States; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The President's cruel, unnecessary, and bigoted
21executive orders produced chaos in the United States
22immigration system in the hours and days immediately following

 

 

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1its execution; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The orders caused widespread confusion in the air
3and on the ground at U.S. and international airports; they
4resulted in travelers being detained for hours and questioned
5by U.S. authorities without legal representation, in some
6instances separating small children from their parents, and in
7one case, delaying an urgent medical appointment of a
8four-month old girl with a heart condition; they prompted
9vetted refugees and legal residents en route to the United
10States to be blocked and turned back; they triggered mass
11protests at airports throughout the country, including in
12Chicago, and they spurred legal action against the President;
13and
 
14    WHEREAS, President Trump's malicious and arbitrary orders
15bear a striking resemblance to another episode when, during one
16of the darkest times in human history, America closed its doors
17to frightened refugees in search of sanctuary, ultimately
18resulting in the murder of many of them; in 1939, the German
19ocean liner, the SS St. Louis, set out for the United States by
20way of Cuba from Hamburg, Germany, with 900 Jewish refugees
21seeking asylum from Nazi persecution; the passengers were
22denied entry to the United States, Cuba, and Canada because of
23strict immigration quotas and were forced to return to Europe;
24more than half of the Voyage of the SS St. Louis passengers who

 

 

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1returned to Europe were killed by Nazis in the Holocaust; and
 
2    WHEREAS, History has shown that executive decisions about
3immigration, refugee resettlement, and religious bans can have
4tragic life-or-death consequences that may go unrecognized for
5too long; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The United States, and Illinois in particular,
7have always welcomed, supported, and protected people of all
8races, ethnicities, religions, and nationalities, so much so
9that the very self-definition of our country, as expressed both
10in our founding documents and in our public consciousness,
11relies upon an open embrace of immigrants and refugees;
12therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
14ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we condemn President
15Donald J. Trump's executive orders barring immigrants and
16refugees from entering the United States and call on him to
17uphold and protect the values of all of the people of this
18great nation, which was founded by immigrants on principles
19that include religious freedom and the notion that all people
20are welcome and created equal; and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
22delivered to the President and Vice-President of the United

 

 

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1States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States
2Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leaders of the United States
3House of Representatives, and all members of the Illinois
4Congressional Delegation.