HJ0069 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0069 LRB103 40356 MST 72626 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that U.S. immigration law expressly authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to grant "parole", permission to temporarily remain in the United States and apply for a work permit to certain people who are undocumented without Congressional approval for "urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit" so long as the exercise of such discretion is "reasonable and reasonably explained" on a case by case basis per Biden v. Texas, 142 S. Ct. 2528 (2022); and

WHEREAS, The U.S. government has exercised its parole authority in a wide variety of ways for humanitarian reasons and significant public benefit; and

WHEREAS, A program known as Military Parole in Place already exists for spouses, parents, or children, who are undocumented, of active-duty or former active duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces and the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve; and

WHEREAS, Amidst Congressional inaction on immigration reform, President Biden has utilized parole more than any other U.S. president in history, extending the program to more than 1 million people who are undocumented over the past two years; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. is experiencing an unprecedented labor shortage across multiple sectors of our economy that are vital to our national well-being; and

WHEREAS, In the State of Illinois, the fifth largest economy in the United States, critical industries, such as manufacturing, transportation, warehousing, agriculture, healthcare, childcare, senior/home care, hospitality, construction, and education, are experiencing a prolonged staffing shortage that is harming their growth and competitiveness; and

WHEREAS, According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as analyzed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Illinois has, on average, 76 available workers for every 100 jobs; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) reports that the largest number of high-demand, high-wage job openings through 2030 are in occupations that require short-term or moderate-term on-the-job training, including over 56,000 annual openings in the restaurant sector, over 41,000 annual openings for laborers, assemblers, and maintenance workers, over 59,000 annual openings for cashiers and retail sales and customer service representatives, and over 15,000 annual openings in home health and personal care aides; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Farm Bureau has indicated that local worker shortages are among the top current challenges for Illinois farmers, suppliers, and processors, including locating qualified truck drivers to haul grain and sourcing enough hands to pick vegetables or manage livestock, and furthermore, that this shortage in the agricultural supply chains continues to not only undermine the financial health of farms in Illinois but, more importantly, threaten food security, and, ultimately, our national security; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois State Board of Education's (ISBE) 2023 Unfilled Positions Report shows that school districts in Illinois reported more unfilled positions in FY23 than they did in FY22, and there continues to be a high demand for paraprofessionals and teachers, particularly in the City of Chicago, the Northeast region, and the East Central region, and the demand for paraprofessionals, who often serve special education and bilingual students, outweighs the supply; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Nursing Workforce Center reports the State is facing an estimated shortfall of nearly 15,000 nurses by 2025 and a deficit of 6,200 physicians by 2030, fueled in part by pandemic burnout and by providers leaving the profession or retiring, as 52% of the almost 195,000 RNs in Illinois are over the age of 55 with 27% planning to retire in the next five years and less than 8,000 nurses graduating each year; and

WHEREAS, The Migration Policy Institute estimates that there are more than 12,000 Illinois residents with international healthcare degrees who are prohibited from providing care due to licensing or worker authorization; and

WHEREAS, The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) reports that many seniors in the Illinois Community Cares Program (CCP) are already going without the care they should receive due to a severe workforce shortage, and the number of authorized CCP hours not serviced has increased by 46%; much of the increased need for home care is associated with the increasing number of senior Illinoisans, a strong preference for in-home rather than nursing facility services, and a strong preference for culturally competent care; IDES projects that Illinois will need an additional 9,000 home care workers annually for each of the next ten years; and

WHEREAS, Despite the State's critical need for labor, nearly half a million Illinoisans who are undocumented are still unable to legally work; and

WHEREAS, Nearly 30% of Illinoisans who are undocumented have been residing and contributing to the workforce in the U.S. for over 20 years; and

WHEREAS, The majority of residents in Illinois who are undocumented reside in mixed status families with U.S. citizen and lawful permanent resident family members; and

WHEREAS, Long-term immigrant workers in Illinois who are undocumented empower key sectors of the economy, including manufacturing, farming, food production, senior/home care, child care, healthcare, education, construction, hospitality, and warehousing, contributing to our State's prosperity and also contributing approximately $1.5 billion in taxes per year; and

WHEREAS, Granting work permits will provide a significant public benefit to Illinois' economy by expanding the formal workforce to include all who have the eligibility to work, while increasing taxes paid to the State; and

WHEREAS, In the education sector alone, Illinois school districts report a high number of unfilled teaching and paraprofessional positions; and

WHEREAS, Teachers and paraprofessionals are essential for primary and secondary school students in our State, particularly for special education and bilingual students; and

WHEREAS, The existing worker shortage is so great that many school districts have been forced to contract workers directly from abroad, even though long-term immigrants are well-suited to fill these positions; and

WHEREAS, The exclusion from federal benefits leaves long-term immigrant workers who are undocumented and their families vulnerable and forces the State of Illinois to spend our tax dollars to provide critical health care and other benefits; and

WHEREAS, Granting work permits would allow workers to earn a fair wage and secure benefits, including health insurance; and

WHEREAS, Granting work permits would aid in the enforcement of existing labor laws, thereby reducing the exploitation of our lowest wage workers, the majority of whom are workers of color and immigrants; and

WHEREAS, Work permits would protect from deportation tens of thousands of students in Illinois who are undocumented and without the protection of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and would ensure that youth who are undocumented get the education they need to support themselves and their families and contribute to the State and national economies; and

WHEREAS, Illinois provides limited benefits and resources for individuals who are undocumented, including limited healthcare coverage for low-income qualifying immigrants, much of which would be unnecessary if the undocumented had work permits and could secure such benefits through their employment; and

WHEREAS, Despite the protections Illinois has enacted to protect long-term immigrant workers who are undocumented, they continue to be at risk of deportation, family separation, exploitation at work, and exclusion from health care and other benefits due to their immigration status, all of which negatively affects Illinois' economy and public safety and the quality-of-life in our communities; and

WHEREAS, For all these reasons, work permits for long-term immigrant workers would be a significant public benefit to the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Only the federal government can issue work permits to people who are undocumented under its parole authority; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the President of the United States to authorize the DHS Secretary to establish a program to evaluate parole and work authorization on a case-by-case basis for long-term immigrant workers who are undocumented and residing in Illinois to address this State's critical need for labor and to secure the family life for tens of thousands of mixed status families in Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor to work with federal partners to urge, by all possible means, the establishment of such a parole and work authorization program for the long-term immigrant population who are undocumented and residing in Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Office of the President of the United States and to all members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.