Bonnie Cox, LWVIL President

Hilary Denk , LWVIL Issues Co-chair 

Kim Reed, LWVIL Issue Specialist, Immigration

ACTION NEEDED: 

Contact Governor Rauner and urge him to sign the following immigration bills: SB 34 The VOiCES ACT, SB 35 The Safe Zones Act, and SB 3488 The Anti-Registry Program. Additionally, ask him to sign SB 3103 The Immigrant Tenant Protection Act and SB 3109 DFPR LICENSE-IMMIGRATION. click here to send an email or call 312-814-2121 or 217-782-0244.

WHY IT MATTERS:

Many immigration bills, three for which we had sent out TFAs (in support of) have passed both the Illinois Senate and House and are now being sent to the Governor:

• SB 34, The Voices Act, which improves access to U and T visa in Illinois by requiring qualifying agencies to certify that a person is a crime survivor (in most cases) within 90 business days of a request. This bill will encourage immigrant domestic violence, sexual assault, and trafficking survivors to report their crimes to law enforcement and enable to seek potential relief from deportation.
• SB 35, The Immigration Safe Zones Act, which directs the Attorney General to develop model policies to protect individuals in schools, hospitals, courthouses and other "sensitive locations" should ICE attempt to apprehend anyone on these locations.
• SB 3488, The Anti-Registry Program Act, which bars state and local government agencies from participating in any form of registry based on race, religion, gender or other characteristics.

The following bills also passed out of the General Assembly and were supported by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and other immigrant advocacy groups:

 

• SB 3103, the Immigration Tenant Protection Act, which protects tenants in rental properties from threats based on their perceived immigration status
• SB 3109, which removes eligibility requirements related to immigration status from many professional licenses
• Funding to support US Census outreach in 2020 

The General Assembly passed a state budget ( HB 109) that will fully fund the immigrant service line item, providing critical services to immigrants and refugees throughout the state!

The Governor has up to 90 days to sign or veto the bills. If he does nothing, the bills automatically become law.