1st Ward Report |
I was pleased and honored to be sworn in as the Alderman of Chicago’s 1st Ward on March 26, 2010. As Alderman, I’ll look for community-based solutions to solve our biggest challenges. I’ll be a strong and independent advocate for the people of the 1st Ward in the Chicago City Council and no one else. |
Today, I introduced a Resolution that called for a joint Committee on Finance and Committee on Human Relations hearing to determine what further steps can be taken to urge Arizona legislators to repeal SB 1070. The goal of the hearings is to determine what the City of Chicago can do to urge Arizona legislators to repeal the bill.
Arizona SB 1070 creates a troubling legal precedent, which places a burden on the Arizona police to discriminate on the basis of ethnicity. Arizona SB 1070 is a challenge to the civil liberties of all residents of, and visitors to, Arizona.
Arizona SB 1070 makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requires police officers to question those whom they suspect to be illegal immigrants. I am the grandson of Mexican Immigrants and I believe America’s diversity has been and will continue to be our greatest strength.
I believe that Arizona SB 1070 is an affront to long-held legal precedents and principles and its passage is very troubling. I disagree with those who do not think it concerns them. This is not a Latino or ethnic issue; it’s a legal and human rights issue. Arizona SB 1070 is bad legislation, which should concern all people who value civil liberties; plain and simple.
The Resolution was co-sponsored by all members of the Latino Caucus and signed by thrity Alderman overall.
Here is the text of the Resolution:
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The State of Arizona enacted SB 1070, which was signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer on the 23rd day of April, 2010; and
WHEREAS, Arizona SB 1070 makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally; and
WHEREAS, Arizona SB 1070 requires police officers to question those they suspect are illegal immigrants; and
WHEREAS, Arizona SB 1070 will unfairly target members of the Latino community in Arizona, which will cause undue anxiety to millions of people; and
WHEREAS, Arizona SB 1070 removes the American legal virtue that assumes innocence, placing a burden on Arizona police officers to discriminate on the basis of ethnicity; and
WHEREAS, The United States of America was founded and has thrived on legal principals contradictory to Arizona SB 1070; and
WHEREAS, The United States of America is a nation comprised of immigrants, with a history of eventually welcoming immigrants as assets to the country; and
WHEREAS, Arizona SB 1070 is a challenge to the cherished civil liberties of all citizens residing in and traveling to the state of Arizona; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and Members of the Chicago City Council, assembled here this12th day of May, 2010, do hereby denounce the actions of the Arizona Legislature in passing Arizona SB 1070; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and Members of the Chicago City Council, assembled here this this12th day of May, 2010, do hereby request that the City Council’s Committee on Finance and Committee on Human Relations conduct one or more joint hearings to examine the steps needed for the city government to investigate what further actions can be taken to urge Arizona legislators to repeal this discriminatory, un-American legislation.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, the President and Minority Leader of the Arizona Senate and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the Arizona House of Representatives.
