CHICAGO – Conservatives in Illinois are struggling to trust Governor Rauner and what he's saying on the stump about the TRUST Act he signed into law last year. The governor signed the legislation surrounded by immigration advocates like the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights – a pro-amnesty group – and refused to speak with family members of victims killed by those in the US illegally.
Democrat candidate J.B. Pritzker said Thursday night he agreed with Governor Rauner signing the TRUST Act into law. Rauner said he opposes illegal immigrants that take jobs away from Illinoisans. He said he wanted E-verify in Illinois and to strengthen regulations against employers hiring illegals.
Saturday Governor Rauner said "I will never let Illinois be a sanctuary state. Period."
That is a shift from his previous stance, Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington) told Illinois Review. SB 31 restrains local law enforcement from detaining past releases dates those that do not have up to date, sufficient immigration papers – unless they are suspected of criminal acts.
"I’m glad that Governor Rauner now opposes sanctuary state bills. I opposed SB 31, a sanctuary state bill according to the Justice Department, and am chief co-sponsor of HB 4091 to repeal that terrible law." Along with McSweeney, Rep. John M. Cabello C.D. Davidsmeyer - David B. Reis - Allen Skillicorn, Terri Bryant, Thomas Morrison, Bill Mitchell, Jeanne M Ives and Charles Meier have signed on as co-sponsors.
Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) responded saying "Then why did every sanctuary activist stand with him when he signed the Trust Act? That photo says a lot."
Illinois Minutemen spokesperson Rosanna Pulido of Sangamon County agreed that Rauner's new take is phony.
"Repetition is the mother of all learning," she said. "By enacting SB 31, Illinois took any discretion away from individual local governments, police departments and sheriffs to set their own policies and choose to comply with detainers or to consider immigration status as a basis for even the most temporary investigative stop.
"Merely because the bill did not also impose every other conceivable sanctuary policy doesn’t mean it didn’t make Illinois a sanctuary state: for anyone to say otherwise is simply playing word games. It begs the question: if these supporters don’t think Illinois post SB-31 is a sanctuary state, what do they think a real sanctuary state would actually look like?" Pulido asked.
On the other side, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights said Governor Rauner's recent vetos of bills that would protect immigrants sends messages directly opposite of the one he sent last year when he signed SB 31 into law.
Immigrant community members, state legislators, and leaders with the Campaign for a Welcoming Illinois denounced Gov. Bruce Rauner’s vetoes of the VOICES Act (SB 34), the Immigration Safe Zones Act (SB 35), and the Immigrant Tenant Protection Act (SB 3103) this year.
"Rauner’s vetoes of the bills come at a time when immigrant rights organizations are asking state and local elected officials to take leadership given the White House’s overt hostility toward immigrants," ICIRR's statement said. "The vetoes also come almost exactly a year after Gov. Rauner joined community members in Chicago to sign the landmark Illinois TRUST Act, a bill that barred state and local law enforcement from arresting and holding individuals based on immigration status or immigration warrants and detainers."
His vetoes damaged the support the immigration community showed for Rauner when he signed the TRUST Act into law, they said.
“The General Assembly passed five bills to protect immigrant communities across Illinois and make Illinois the most welcoming state in the nation,” said Fred Tsao, senior policy counsel at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
“A year ago, Gov. Rauner signed the TRUST Act, yet today he announces vetoes for three bills that would make our state more welcoming. One moment he is addressing the needs of immigrant communities, and the next, he is using hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric to rationalize rejecting bills that are vital to our communities. Can immigrants really trust this governor?”
Conservatives that are calling for a wall to be built for national security and job availability for Americans remain confused and frustrated as much as amnesty advocates are.
