State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-17th) of Glenview on the Illinois House floor.
State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-17th) of Glenview is leading a Democratic working group looking at how Illinois can respond to the continuing stream of buses of primarily Venezuelan migrants and asylum seekers being sent to the area from the U.S.-Mexico border.
The nine-member group, recently appointed by Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, held its first meeting Monday, Jan. 22. It will work until May to find ways to address the migrant influx, which may include policies including budget-related items, “consistent with our values,” Gong-Gershowitz said.
“We need to address the human needs (of migrants) over which we have little control” over federal policy, Gong-Gershowitz said.
“The recent influx of migrants into our state provides challenges and opportunities that require thoughtful engagement and consensus building,” Welch said in a written statement. “We know this issue will be an important part of conversations this session, which is why I’m putting together a diverse team with strong, relevant backgrounds ready to act as needed. Rep. Gong-Gershowitz has decades of experience understanding the complex issues related to immigration, and I’m confident she will lead this group with the skill, knowledge, and compassion required.”
“I’m honored to work with a group of individuals who are actively engaged on this topic and can provide quality feedback,” Gong-Gershowitz said. “We come from a variety of backgrounds, but we share an understanding that this must be a human-centered approach that respects the real lives that are impacted. I look forward to the work ahead.”
Gong-Gershowitz told the Journal & Topics that immigration law and policy is an issue where the federal government has jurisdiction. She says the impact of those laws and policies are what is falling to the states.
The working group would consider migrant needs and issues including food, housing, and law enforcement. She said the needs of local municipalities would also be part of that conversation.
This week, Gov. JB Pritzker joined governors from eight other states in writing to President Joe Biden urging him to quickly negotiate a border security agreement and to provide funding to states impacted by the migrant influx.
The working group comes as a significant recent increase in buses from Texas are being sent not only to Chicago and other major cities led by Democrats but also to area suburbs after Chicago officials implemented stricter rules regulating where and when buses could bring migrants into the city.
“Dropping people in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night is a public safety issue,” Gong-Gershowitz said. “I have zero control over federal policy.”
In one instance, a bus dropped off a busload of migrants in front of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont at 12:30 a.m. In another case, the week before Christmas, a busload of migrants was dropped at the Love’s Travel Stop in Elk Grove Village at 12:15 a.m. Many of those migrants walked from Elk Grove Village to O’Hare Airport where they knew migrants were being housed.
In response, municipalities began adopting ordinances imposing fines and threatening to impound buses dropping off in their municipalities without warning, and in many cases, advance permits.
Gong-Gershowitz said the first meetings would set definitions and work to bring working group members to the same set of assumptions on state and local responsibilities regarding the migrant influx.
Joining Gong-Gershowitz on the working group are state representatives, House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel (D-18th) of Evanston, House Speaker Pro Tempore Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-92nd) of Peoria, Assistant Majority Leader Kam Buckner (D-26th) of Chicago, State Rep. Dagmara “Dee” Avelar (D-85th) Bolingbrook, State Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado (D-3rd) of Chicago, State Rep. Terra Costa Howard (D-42nd) of Glen Ellyn, State Rep. Hoan Huynh (D-13th) of Chicago, and State Rep. Dave Vella (D-68th) of Rockford
Gong-Gershowitz was the first chair of the recently formed House Immigration & Human Rights Committee and now serves as its vice chair. In her professional life outside the Illinois House, she has worked as an immigrant rights attorney.
The post Gong-Gershowitz Of Glenview To Head House Working Group Addressing Migrant Influx Crisis first appeared on Journal & Topics Media Group.
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