HR1202 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1202 LRB099 21636 MST 48107 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, There are a significant number of non-citizen veterans of foreign wars, including World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the Afghanistan War, who have been removed from the United States; and

WHEREAS, These veterans currently live in terrible and abject conditions after having served in the Armed Services of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Several of these veterans have asked for support in obtaining reentry into the United States to be with their families and their children who are U.S. citizens; and

WHEREAS, Non-citizens compose a significant portion of the Armed Forces, enlisting more than 8,000 persons annually; and

WHEREAS, According to the Department of Defense, more than 65,000 non-citizen immigrants were serving in the U.S. Armed Forces as of 2008 - accounting for at least 5% of the total active-duty personnel; and

WHEREAS, The Immigration Reform Act of 1996 broadened the criteria for removable offenses to include shoplifting, misdemeanor drug offenses, and other minor offenses, allowing the Department of Homeland Security to quietly deport veterans who have fallen on hard times; and

WHEREAS, According to Banished Veterans, a support group for deported veterans, there are currently 3,000 veterans in immigration detention centers or in removal proceedings at any given time; and

WHEREAS, Veterans that have been deported do not have access to Veterans Affairs benefits or other benefits designed for veterans; and

WHEREAS, The nation owes these veterans adequate support and rehabilitation equal to that of veterans with full citizenship; and

WHEREAS, The non-citizen parents, spouses, and children of veterans and service men and women who have been killed during active duty still face risk of deportation; and

WHEREAS, These veteran family members also need adequate rehabilitation and mental health resources in order to cope with extreme hardship and loss that is a result of war; and

WHEREAS, After having served time for their crimes in the criminal justice system, non-citizen veterans are almost immediately dropped at the doorsteps of their country of birth - with no resources, no contacts and, at times, no knowledge of the language, resulting in compounded punishment; and

WHEREAS, These valiant veterans are solely allowed reentry into the United States posthumously for their burial in a U.S. military cemetery; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the plight of these veterans and urge the United States Congress and the President of the United States to provide these veterans and their families the honors and benefits that they have earned; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to President Barack Obama, U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.