Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed two immigration bills into state law last week.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed two immigration bills into state law last week.
Illinois state Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) called last week's signing of two new immigration laws by Gov. J.B. Pritzker "a travesty," among other things.
“One of the first things that occurs to me is do we have federal immigration laws, and the answer to that is we do,” Miller told the East Central Reporter. “I know that I stood and watched J.B. Pritzker, along with my other colleagues, take the oath of office where we swore to uphold the U.S. Constitution and the Illinois Constitution, and I’m not sure where the act of treason comes in. To me, when you’re in open rebellion against the laws of the United States of America, I find that to be a real problem.”
One new bill signed into law by Pritzker paves the way for more protections for immigrant youths by doubling to two years the amount of time guardians of children whose parents are detained or were deported by federal immigration officials may serve in that capacity. The governor also inked a measure that provides a pathway to citizenship for some undocumented youth through Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for those who have been abused or neglected.
Illinois state Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland)
“Here’s the problem, when we’re in leadership, our first responsibility is to the citizens of our state, and I know that we're spending billions of dollars on people that are here illegally while our veterans are sleeping in the streets and people are hungry when they go to bed at night,” Miller said. “I think it’s a travesty we’re putting illegal immigrants ahead of citizens. If we’re going to take care of anybody, it ought to be our citizens first.”
The new laws come at a time when the issue of immigration stands front and center in Illinois after a recent incident at O’Hare International Airport where three girls who were on a flight from Mexico with a relative who was denied entry into the country were held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for at least half the day after arriving in Chicago. While the girls are U.S. citizens, their parents are not and the mother later told authorities she was hesitant about picking up her children because she feared she too might be detained.
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