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Type:
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Resolution
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Status:
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Adopted
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Title:
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President Donald Trump and U.S. Congress urged to retain Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program
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Attachments:
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1. R2017-735.pdf
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OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
CITY OF CHICAGO
RAHM EMANUEL
MAYOR
September 6, 2017
TO THE HONORABLE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO
Ladies and Gentlemen:
1 transmit herewith, together with City Clerk Valencia and Aldermen Moreno. Garza, Thompson, Cardenas. Quinn, Burke. Lopez, Munoz, Sol is, Maldonado, Reboyras, Santiago, Rosa, Villegas, Laurino. O'Connor. Smith, Arena, Osterman and J. Moore, a resolution regarding the Trump administration's recently announced plan regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Your favorable consideration of this resolution will be appreciated.
Mayor
Very truly yours,
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, On Tuesday, September 5, 2017, President Donald Trump ordered an end to the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Congress is being given six months to determine the legal status and ultimate fate of 800,000 immigrants, known as "Dreamers", who were brought into the United States as children, and who are eligible, under the existing DACA program, to apply for temporary residence in the United States; and
WHEREAS, A compromise devised by the Obama Administration after Congress failed to pass the bipartisan Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which would have offered eligible immigrant children the chance of permanent legal residency in the United States, the DACA program, established by Executive Order on June 15, 2012, offers temporary residence status to these children, and protection from immediate deportation, if certain conditions are met: and
WHEREAS, An undocumented immigrant is eligible to claim DACA status if, as of June 15, 2012, the individual was under the age of 31, came the United States before turning age 16, lived continuously in the United States for five years since June 15, 2007; and either has a high school diploma or GED certification, or has been honorably discharged from the military or is currently enrolled in school. Applicants for DACA status are fingerprinted and rigorously vetted by the Department of Homeland Security for any criminal history or threat to national security. If the applicant passes the vetting, action to deport the person is deferred for a period of two years, with an opportunity to renew the deferral, and the individual becomes eligible for basics such as a driver's license, college enrollment or work permit; and
WHEREAS, To date, 787,580 individuals have qualified for DACA status. As President Obama put it when he signed the Executive Order creating the DACA program: "These are young people who study in our schools, they play in our neighborhoods, they're friends with our kids, they pledge allegiance to our flag. They are Americans in their heart, in their minds, in every single way but one on paper. They were brought to this country by their parents -sometimes even as infants - and often had no idea that they're undocumented until they apply for a job or a driver's license, or a college scholarship. Imagine you have done everything right your entire life - studied hard, worked hard, maybe even graduated at the top of the class - only to suddenly face the threat of deportation to a country you know nothing about, with a language that you may not even speak."; and
WHEREAS, In an act of faith and trust in America's promise of hope and opportunity, "Dreamers" came out of the shadows and gave their names, addresses and telephone numbers to the United States Government in order to participate in the DACA program. It is heart wrenching to think that the Government they trusted for help and protection would callously turn its back on their plight and use that information against them in an effort to hasten a cruel and undeserved deportation from the country that they love; and
WHEREAS, In counterpoint to these troubling developments in our Nation's capital, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is calling upon Governor Bruce Rauner and the Illinois General Assembly to establish an Illinois Dreamers Bill of Rights to ensure that the State of Illinois is doing all it can to remain a welcoming place for the more than 40,000 Dreamers that live, work and study in our great State; to amend State law to allow Dreamers to obtain the licenses and certifications they need to enter additional professions, such as health care, education, social work and real estate, and to remain in those professions after their DACA work permit expires; to establish a statewide legal protection fund, similar to the City's $1.3 million Legal Defense Fund, to assist residents in navigating the immigration process; to further strengthen the Illinois Trust Act to prohibit cooperation or communication with Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") with respect to Dreamers; and to disallow local governments from exempting themselves from these new Dreamer protections; and
WHEREAS, During the difficult days ahead, Mayor Emanuel and the City of Chicago want all of its Dreamers to know that: "You are welcome here in Chicago and in our schools." Our STAR Scholarship will always be open to dreamers, and students with a "B" average can attend community college at no cost. "Keep dreaming big" because "Chicago will always be a welcoming City of Chicago"; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor, the Members of the Latino Caucus and the other Members of the City Council of the City of Chicago, with the staunch support of City Clerk Valencia, assembled this sixth day of September, 2017, do hereby urge President Donald J. Trump and the Congress of the United States, and our State and local leaders, in keeping with the highest and best traditions of our constitutional democracy, to acknowledge and accept the moral imperative of lifting from the shoulders of these innocent victims of circumstance the burden of fear of deportation, and to provide our Nation's Dreamers with continued temporary relief from deportation, and, ultimately, a path to permanent citizenship; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to President Donald J. Trump and to the Illinois Delegation to the United States Congress, and to the Governor of the State of Illinois, the President of the Illinois Senate, the Minority Leader of the Illinois Senate, the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, and the Minority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives, as a sign of our dedication to and support of this important issue.
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