RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The City of Chicago is a home rule unit of government pursuant to the 1970 Illinois Constitution, Article VII, Section 6(a); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to its home rule power, the City of Chicago may exercise any power and perform any function relating to its government and affairs including the power to regulate for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, in fulfillment of that duty, the City of Chicago ("City") enacted a law to ensure that access to its services, opportunities, and protection is unfettered by the immigration status of its residents; and
WHEREAS, that law, set forth in Chapter 2-173 of the Municipal Code of Chicago, dictates the circumstances under which City agents and agencies may communicate with federal immigration enforcement agents; and
WHEREAS, this regulation strives to keep City agencies from expending time and resources to act solely as a conduit to federal agents if verifying immigration status and federal immigration law enforcement are the sole or primary objectives; and
WHEREAS, the United States Attorney General recently announced that a local government's failure to communicate the immigration status of detainees in its custody will result in withholding and withdrawal of federal funds for law enforcement; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Attorney General coupled that announcement with a caution that state, city, and county policies of not enforcing immigration laws make these cities and states less safe; and
WHEREAS, violent crime is a paramount public safety matter and federal immigration law enforcement and reform is a vital public policy matter; and
WHEREAS, conflating the two matters perpetuates the nefarious sentiment that the immigrant population is a criminal population, and basic humanity dictates that we separate the discourse; and
WHEREAS, effective approaches to address both violent crime and immigration must be targeted to each issue; and
WHEREAS, efforts and resources that...
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