SR0131 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, On January 27, 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order, "Protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States", purportedly to protect Americans from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals admitted to this country; and

WHEREAS, The President's order barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen - from entering the United States for 90 days; it suspended all refugee admissions to the country for 120 days, and indefinitely barred Syrian refugees from entering the United States; and

WHEREAS, The President's cruel, unnecessary, and bigoted executive order produced chaos in the United States immigration system in the hours and days immediately following its execution; and

WHEREAS, The order caused widespread confusion in the air and on the ground at U.S. and international airports; it resulted in travelers being detained for hours and questioned by U.S. authorities without legal representation, in some instances separating small children from their parents, and in one case, delaying an urgent medical appointment of a four-month old girl with a heart condition; it prompted vetted refugees and legal residents en route to the United States to be blocked and turned back; it triggered mass protests at airports throughout the country, including in Chicago, and it spurred legal action against the President; and

WHEREAS, President Trump's malicious and arbitrary order bears a striking resemblance to another episode when, during one of the darkest times in human history, America closed its doors to frightened refugees in search of sanctuary, ultimately resulting in the murder of many of them; in 1939, the German ocean liner, the SS St. Louis, set out for the United States by way of Cuba from Hamburg, Germany, with 900 Jewish refugees seeking asylum from Nazi persecution; the passengers were denied entry to the United States, Cuba, and Canada because of strict immigration quotas and were forced to return to Europe; more than half of the Voyage of the SS St. Louis passengers who returned to Europe were killed by Nazis in the Holocaust; and

WHEREAS, History has shown that executive decisions about immigration, refugee resettlement, and religious bans can have tragic life-or-death consequences that may go unrecognized for too long; and

WHEREAS, The United States, and Illinois in particular, have always welcomed, supported, and protected people of all races, ethnicities, religions, and nationalities, so much so that the very self-definition of our country, as expressed both in our founding documents and in our public consciousness, relies upon an open embrace of immigrants and refugees; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we condemn President Donald J. Trump's executive order barring refugees from the United States and call on him to uphold and protect the values of all of the people of this great nation, which was founded by immigrants on principles that include religious freedom and the notion that all people are welcome and created equal; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the President and Vice-President of the United States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives, and all members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.