Full Text of HJR0087 97th General Assembly
HJ0087 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has long welcomed immigrants | 3 | | to our State and valued the contributions of newcomers to our | 4 | | State's economic, social, cultural, and civic life; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has supported and encouraged | 6 | | legal immigrants in their desire to become United States | 7 | | citizens; and | 8 | | WHEREAS In 2004, the State of Illinois began the New | 9 | | Americans Initiative (NAI), a partnership between the Illinois | 10 | | Department of Human Services and the Illinois Coalition for | 11 | | Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR); and | 12 | | WHEREAS, NAI engages 31 community-based organizations to | 13 | | organize volunteer workshops, conduct outreach events, and | 14 | | provide immigration legal services to assist long-term lawful | 15 | | permanent residents in becoming United States citizens; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, NAI works throughout the State of Illinois and | 17 | | with the broad diversity of the State's immigrant population, | 18 | | including Latinos, Poles, Russians, Chinese, Indians, Koreans, | 19 | | Filipinos, Arabs, Africans, and other immigrant and refugee | 20 | | groups; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Since 2005, NAI has organized 1,196 citizenship | 2 | | workshops that have engaged 19,723 volunteer community members | 3 | | and lawyers to assist 58,180 immigrants with their applications | 4 | | for United States citizenship; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, NAI has also provided information regarding | 6 | | citizenship to 464,050 immigrants in 25 languages through | 7 | | outreach, a website (www.beacitizen.org) and a toll-free | 8 | | information line; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, NAI led a campaign to increase the census return | 10 | | rate by knocking on 107,833 doors in 26 immigrant communities, | 11 | | a campaign that produced increases of up to 18% in return rates | 12 | | and will bring $348 million in additional dollars to Illinois | 13 | | over next 10 years; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, NAI has emerged as a national model for effective | 15 | | citizenship assistance services emulated by other states and | 16 | | communities; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, NAI was awarded the prestigious E Pluribus Unum | 18 | | prize in 2010 by the Migration Policy Institute as one of the | 19 | | nation's "exceptional initiatives that promote immigrant | 20 | | integration"; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Based on the success of NAI, ICIRR co-founded and |
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| 1 | | leads the National Partnership for New Americans, a new | 2 | | multi-state organization created to spread the citizenship | 3 | | model pioneered in Illinois; therefore, be it
| 4 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 5 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 6 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we commend the Illinois | 7 | | Department of Human Services and the Illinois Coalition for | 8 | | Immigrant and Refugee Rights for their work on the New | 9 | | Americans Initiative; and be it further
| 10 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 11 | | presented to the Illinois Department of Human Services and the | 12 | | Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights to show our | 13 | | appreciation for their work on the New Americans Initiative.
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