CHICAGO - Immigration advocacy groups are reporting Friday morning that Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has committed to signing into law a bill that would make every public school, daycare center, preschool, public university, nursing home, hospital and medical facility in Illinois a sanctuary location for illegal aliens avoiding law enforcement. The bill also includes motor vehicle offices and court houses.
With the state in such dire financial straits, and the governor and his staff wholeheartedly fighting to correct the state's fiscal condition, ignoring the $4.6 billion the approximate 550,000 illegals cost the state each year seemed uncharacteristic.
So Illinois Review reached out to the Federation for American Immigration Reform with a few questions about the effect SB 31 could have on the state of Illinois – in case Governor Rauner or his staff had not taken time to speak with experts opposing the measure.
Q: In light of Attorney General Jeff Sessions recent suggestions about cutting off federal funds to counties and municipalities that do not enforce federal immigration laws, how could a sanctuary law like SB 31 affect federally-funded facilities in Illinois?
Sanctuary jurisdictions – those locations that forbid the exchange of information between state and local employees and federal immigration enforcement officers – are a direct violation of federal law. These jurisdictions not only serve as a beacon to illegal immigration but also are a major public safety issue. That’s because once-dangerous criminal aliens are set to be released by local police, instead of being removed from the country, they are simply released back onto the streets of the local community.
For example, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issues detainer requests for aliens who are in local custody and who it believes are removable from the United States. During a recent one week period, (January 28 to February 3, 2017) Travis County, Texas denied 142 ICE detainer requests , releasing aliens convicted of: assault (8); domestic violence (10) and DUI (14); or charged with: Indecent Exposure to a Minor/Child Sex Offense: 6; DUI (16) back onto the streets of Texas.
If Illinois moves forward with this law, it will not only face the loss of targeted federal funding, but could also face other federal sanctions by the Department of Justice, David Ray, director of FAIR's communications told Illinois Review.
Q: What kind of situations could persons working at these facilities face if this bill were to go into effect?
Laws vary from city to city, but in general, any state or local employees would be forbidden from asking the immigration status of anyone, including those who are incarcerated, those who are applying for a state identification card, those who are applying for public assistance, and possibly even those who are applying for jobs.
This law would take effect while the state of Illinois is crumbling under the weight of its budget deficit and ongoing debt, while also making it easier for illegal immigrants to not only live in the state of Illinois, but to take jobs away from U.S. citizens who should rightfully have them.
Q: Does any other state have a similar policy to Illinois’ SB 31 in effect?
California is an official sanctuary state, and Oregon, like Illinois, has sanctuary city legislation awaiting the governor’s signature.
Q: What are illegal aliens costing the state of Illinois per your studies?
It’s estimated that there are roughly 550,000 illegal aliens residing in the state of Illinois, at a cost to state and local taxpayers of roughly $4.6 billion annually. Nationally, it’s estimated that illegal aliens cost federal, and state and local taxpayers roughly $116 billion annually.
Immigration groups are thrilled with Governor Rauner's commitment to signing the bill into law.
“Illinois will soon have the strongest statewide protections for immigrants in the country. This is due to the tireless efforts of over 60 organizations from across the state that were part of the campaign to pass the TRUST Act,” said Lawrence Benito, chief executive officer at Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, one of the co-conveners of the campaign steering committee.
“This accomplishment is a testament to our communities’ power. It shows what we are collectively capable of during these trying times, and sets the stage for our next campaigns and future victories.”
See related Illinois Review stories on SB 31:
- FAMILIES WHOSE LOVED ONES WERE KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS DEVASTATED BY RAUNER COMMITMENT TO SANCTUARY LAW
- HOUSE TO CONSIDER PROTECTING IMMIGRATION LAW EVADERS WHERE IL'S MOST VULNERABLE GATHER
- BILL MAKING EVERY ILLINOIS SCHOOL, HOSPITAL, NURSING HOME A SANCTUARY LOCATION SITS ON RAUNER'S DESK
- RAUNER COMMITS TO SIGNING SANCTUARY BILL
Bye, bye Federal grant money.
Shame on Madigan, Cullerton and Rauner.
Trump is the only respectable person. We need his values in Illinois
God Bless Illinois
Carl Lambrecht
Bye, Bye, Bruce Rauner. We need someone else in the primary, because he can’t possibly win if he signs this.
I implore all you CONSERVATIVES to UNDERSTAND Tim Scneider , Rauner and most of these pimps are double-agents, answering to Democrat bosses John Daley, Mike Madigan, etc. When I , a Republican, was campaigning against John Daley for Cook Commissioner (11th dist.), I asked Schneider to help our campaign. His reply? “I gotta work with John”.
I implore you to understand the opposition is in bed with the enemy.
how in the hell do you think Illinois got like this?! You don’t really believe all those Media stories that it is one man, Little Mike Madigan, do you?
One of the many problems is that too many people think that the term “double-agents” only describes fictional characters in James Bond 007 movies.
Carl Segvich – 11th Ward Republican Party Commitman, Chicago
Billionaire Pro-Immigration RINO Bruce Rauner has just turned Illinois into a de facto sanctuary state. Any of you Rauner-worshippers STILL want to tell me that this ultra-rich narcissistic bully is a “Republican”..?
Aiding & abetting law breakers…. rule of law means nothing in a corrupt state
Rauner is worried about his re-election so don’t count on Governor Rauner backing any anti-illegal immigration laws. The “Prime Directive” for any of the politicians is to get re-elected.
I hope this news will cause all Illinois conservatives to vote for William Kelly, in the primary. If he becomes governor, he’ll ensure that all Illinois police officers will help ICE agents arrest and deport illegal aliens. William is also pro-life, unlike Gov. Rauner. Please read William’s website, http://www.williamjkelly.org/
If Rauner signs this bill, then all his work for fiscal responsibility will be proven to have been a sham.
There is no single greater cause of Illinois’ bankrupt condition than our half-million-plus illegal alien population.
Many of the Republicans elected to Springfield are willing to settle for the crumbs Madigan sweeps off the table than to go for a piece of the cake, or the WHOLE cake. Maybe it’s too much work for them?
They get paid by we taxpayers anyway, win OR lose. So, WE LOSE.
Where’s the tea party guy, Rick Newton, who told us to put on our big boy pants and vote for Rauner?
lookee how today’s self identified conservatives have no problem when the feds running state policy. Especially When the policy is something they support.
And if it were the other way around and the feds wanted more leniency and Rauner didn’t .. like Arizona? would you be applauding the arm twisting using federal funding?
If you call yourself a conservative and support federal arm twisting of this nature on ANY state policy, you are not conservative. you are a fraud. You have no issue with a big federal government dictating for all and doing away with states altogether aren’t you?
Good choice.
How embarrassing. William Kelly is nothing but a publicity hound that does anything possible to get media attention. No one with any political knowledge takes him seriously. He’s a fool and anyone that encourages him is the same.
We need serious candidates – and knowledgable, wise people to help that candidacy. Please encourage Kelly to stay in his entertainment world. He’s an embarrassment.
Thanks to the Soros employed Communist for telling us what is or is not “conservative “.
Is there an ignore option on these boards? There should be.
Except Arizona didn’t get away with it. They were forced to submit. I bet you just love that word, submit. Now it’s Illinois’ turn. Except, this administration hasn’t forced anyone to submit. This administration hasn’t forced a single state to submit. They’re just going to yank federal money away. It’s THEIR money. This state is going to lose.
I hope only good conservatives win all elections not just in America but everywhere.
and if the feds yanked money from a state that had immigration rules that were “too strict”? you be fine with that ? really? you are a hypocrite… your cry about federal takeover and then support federal takeover when the policy is something your local state does not support. HYPOCRITE. look it up.
Kelly is pro-life and opposes illegal immigrants. Serious enough for me and more serious than our anti-life liberal governor.
Immigration control is a FEDERAL issue, and has been so since the Constitution was adopted. One of the objects of the Constitution was to bind the states together under one banner for mutual protection from foreign interference and from interference from each other.
That means, among other policies, a national military, import and tariff regulations uniform for all the states, and a uniform IMMIGRATION POLICY.
Thus the states have NO RIGHT to exercise their own individual immigration policies in opposition to Federal immigration laws.
END OF ARGUMENT.
Rauner is another “rino”, republican in name only. And a coward too.