Could an Arizona-style immigration bill be headed to Illinois? That's if Teahadist Randy Ramey (R-ILLD55/Carol Stream) has his way. Thankfully, the Dems control the trifecta, so it won't pass, and even it if did pass (via some ConservaDems downstate voting for it) the State House and/or Senate, Quinn would veto it. The poisonous bill is IL HB1969. The bill's other four sponsors, all GOPers, include Michael W. Tryon, Adam Brow, Bill Mitchell, and Ron Stephens.
Chicagonow.com has this:
Can someone tell that to Illinois State Rep. Randy Ramey who represents the area around suburban West Chicago?
Ramey has proposed anti-immigrant legislation the likes of what passed in Arizona.
The bill, HB 1969, states that police can ask about a person's immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that person is undocumented.
What is reasonable suspicion?
An accent? A cowboy hat? The color of someone's skin?
It's just plain and simple racial profiling.
There is one key difference between Illinois and Arizona. Our leading politicians don't exploit immigrants.
I fully expect the Illinois anti-immigration bill to die in committee.
And expect Rep. Ramey to see a backlash next time he runs for office.
Progress Illinois reports that it will harm Illinois:
Despite the outcry across the country and the pending lawsuits, one Illinois lawmaker introduced an eerily similar bill in the General Assembly last week. Sponsored by State Rep. Randy Ramey (R-West Chicago), HB 1969 would give law enforcement the power to determine the immigration status of any person when a "reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien unlawfully present in the U.S." It would also create "penalties for willful failure to carry an alien registration document and for a person who is an unauthorized alien to seek employment." All this while eliminating "race, color, or national origin" from consideration "in implementing the requirements of the Act."
That last clause, which no doubt seeks to remove any smell of racial profiling from the legislation, is not enough to satisfy one immigrant rights group. The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights released a statement calling Ramey's bill a "close copy" of Arizona's bill and criticized its sponsor for continuing to "inflame hatred against immigrants instead of proposing real solutions to fix our immigration system."
ICIRR (Illinois Coalition for Refugee and Immigrant Rights) that Ramey's bill is a "waste of time" to whip up the nativist wing of the GOP base in Illinois:
Last week, Illinois State Rep. Randy Ramey (R-55th) filled an Arizona-like anti-immigrant bill. HB 1969 includes most of the provisions of Arizona’s SB 1070, which that state enacted last April. The following is a statement by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR):
We strongly denounce the filling of HB 1969 by Rep. Ramey. This anti-immigrant bill is a close copy of the Arizona’s infamous SB 1070, which sparked a wave of anti-immigrant hatred surging across the U.S., destroying hundreds of thousands of families and allowing local “cowboy cops” to hunt whoever they think looks like an immigrant. By filing this bill, Rep. Ramey continues to enflame hatred against immigrants instead of proposing real solutions to fix our immigration system.
The people of Illinois rejects hate and support solutions for our broken immigration system. A poll by WGN/Tribune shows that an overwhelming majority -- 87% of Chicago-area residents -- support a citizenship path for undocumented immigrants. People of Illinois are way too smart to side with anti-immigrant extremism that would lead to huge economic waste and a reign of terror across the state.
Last year, the Illinois House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the Arizona law. Elected officials from both parties reject SB1070 showing that Rep. Ramey doesn’t even represent the views of many Republicans. He is an anti-immigrant extremist whose views don’t reflect what his own party or Illinoisans want.
Thankfully, the Illinois House Of Representatives passed a condemnation of AZ SB1070.