On Wednesday, February 16th, Governor Quinn presented a proposed state budget that cuts immigrant services by 74% over the budget two years ago, with a 56% cut proposed for next year alone. Refugee services are scheduled for a 69% cut next year. These cuts will directly hurt thousands of immigrant families across Illinois.
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and Latino, Polish, Asian, African, and other immigrant groups across Illinois unite to:
Ask the State to correct this terrible mistake and restore immigrant services to FY ’10 levels. Send a fax here, and call the Governor’s office at 312-814-2121 (Chicago) or 217-782-0244 (Springfield).
The impact of 74% cuts in immigrant services:
47,052 fewer families will have access to basic services this year – as guaranteed to them by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
This includes:
- 6,462 more kids will go hungry this year, due to decreases in SNAP funding;
- 17,490 fewer mothers will receive pre- and post-natal care, basic care that saves money and lives.
- 3,998 fewer immigrants will become U.S. citizens through the New Americans Initiative. Naturalized immigrants speak English better, earn more, and pay more in taxes. The new taxes generated for Illinois by this program alone are estimated to be $34 million a year.
Background:
Every Governor in Illinois from Governor Jim Edgar forward has supported increases in the Immigrant Services Line Item within the Illinois Department of Human Services. This line item is the only part of the State of Illinois budget that specifically assists immigrants to become full contributors in Illinois, with U.S. citizenship assistance; emergency food, healthcare, and domestic violence assistance to immigrant families in crisis; and economic development, English, and welcoming, and volunteerism programs.
This year the State proposes to slash the immigrant services line item 74%: from $8.6 million in FY10 to a proposed $2.5 million in FY12
Immigrant services represent less than 1/100th of the State budget
Immigrant services were cut despite the fact the human services budget grew by 8.1%, and the Latino population of Illinois has grown 33% in the last 10 years
With the proposed cuts some 11 small immigrant-serving agencies will collapse in bankruptcy, and another 34 immigrant service agencies will be crippled.
The proposed cuts expose the state to a lawsuit under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that “prevents discrimination by government agencies that receive federal funds.”
The proposed budget also slashes refugee services:
Refugee services face a 69% cut, from $3.85 million to $1.18 million
Refugee social services cut 53% from $471,900 to $221,800
Refugee services face severe cuts despite increase in federal refugee resettlement funding to $10.5 million
The immigrant services line item has been a partnership between the State and immigrant serving organizations across Illinois through the administrations of Governor Edgar, Ryan, Blagojevich, and Quinn. This partnership won the E Pluribus Unum national award as the model national partnership for immigrant integration last year.
There has been no communication with the Governor’s office or the Department of Human Services about these proposed cuts or their rationale.
We cannot let this happen. Contact the office of Governor Quinn and ask him to fund these crucial services for the new Americans in Illinois.
All these are services have become more critical to the residents and economic growth of the state. As reported by the Chicago Tribune, numbers released by the US Census showed a dramatic 32.5 increase since 2000 in the Hispanic population in Illinois. At the same time as the overall Department of Human Services budget increased by 8.1 percent, the Governor’s office chose to cut services for this fastest-growing demographic group.
"The state essentially owes its demographic sustainability to Latinos, Asians and immigrants," said Rob Paral, a Chicago-based demographer. "They permit the state to overcome a lot of depopulation."
Growth in Illinois’s vibrant immigrant communities has largely saved Illinois from the fate of neighboring states that have seen population decreases in recent years. Since census data is used to calculate federal expenditures, this growth concretely leads to increased resources for all of Illinois. Furthermore, immigrants have helped keep the economy afloat amid difficult economic waters. Immigrants are 50 percent more likely than native-born Illinoisians to start their own businesses.
Ask Governor Quinn not to ax new Americans and refugees from the state budget.