City Council Meeting November 16, 2016
Chicago is a Welcoming City
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago is the third largest city in the United States with families from more than 140 countries; and
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, and major cities around the United States have welcomed and embraced immigrants and refugees from around the world; and
WHEREAS, many members of the Chicago City Council including the Mayor proudly embrace their immigrant roots; and
WHEREAS, like most major cities, the City of Chicago passed legislation designating the city as a welcoming community for all immigrants, refugees, and undocumented individuals and their families to protect them from discriminatory practices and policies; and
WHEREAS, nationally there has. been an increase in reports of racialized, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and anti-Semitic rhetoric and violent acts of harassment targeting Muslims, Jews; refugees, undocumented immigrants and communities of color, including Asians, Blacks, Latinos, and Middle Easterners; and
WHEREAS, while many callous pundits and politicians refer to undocumented individuals as 'illegal' immigrants or.aliens, in the City of Chicago we call them our family members, neighbors, friends, and community leaders; and
WHEREAS, like other welcoming communities, the City of Chicago recognizes and embraces the humanity in the conversation around immigration policy and rejects a construct where we refer to fellow human beings and their life as an 'illegal'; and
WHEREAS, with the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President ofthe United States, we, the members of the City Council and the Mayor, are gravely concerned with his plan to strip federal funding from all cities with policies that protect undocumented immigrants and other non-citizen residents from deportation; and
WHEREAS, the City Council and the Mayor are united and resolve to fight any effort to strip cities that welcome and protect immigrants of federal funding; a...
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