This week , the Illinois Senate passed the Illinois Dream Act with an overwhelming 45-11 bipartisan vote- with 11 GOP Senators voting in favor of the bill.
The Illinois DREAM Act now moves to the Illinois House, where it should see a vote in the next several weeks. The heroes in the Senate are the following; Senate President John Cullerton who made a commitment to ICIRR and kept it, Illinois Senate Latino Caucus Assistant Majority Leader Tony Munoz, Senator William Delgado, Senator Martin Sandoval, and Senator Iris Martinez we all supportive. Finally it is hugely important that fully HALF of the Republican Senators, led by Minority Leader Christine Radogno and Senator Bill Brady, voted for the Illinois DREAM Act! We will have no success for immigrants without bi-partisanship.
We also had another amazing victory yesterday! Governor Pat Quinn, with the support of law enforcement, has made Illinois the first state in the country to opt-out of the flawed Secure Communities program. Governor Quinn sent a letter to the Homeland Secruity:
“Due to the conflict between the stated purpose of Secure Communities and the implementation of the program, [Illinois State Police] will no longer participate in the Secure Communities program.”
We are grateful to the legislators who made this possible
Neither of these two victories would have been possible without our champions in the state house. Senate President Cullerton for sponsoring the Illinois Dream Act and Representative Burke for sponsoring the Smart Enforcement Act. All the members of the Latino Caucus did an absolutely amazing job advocating on behalf of immigrant communities - not only on the Illinois Dream Act and Secure Communities, but also supporting fair redistricting and budgeting for our communities.
Already the anti-immigrants have taken to the air on talk radio condemning Governor Quinn and the Latino Caucus for their courageous action.
