SPRINGFIELD – Expressing strong concerns about recent federal data that shows there are hundreds of thousands of non-citizens in local communities who have committed or been charged with serious felonies, four State Senators are calling on state and federal leaders to address the impact of this looming threat on the safety of Illinoisans.
State Senator Dave Syverson (R-Cherry Valley), State Senator Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry), State Senator Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), and State Senator Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) are sending a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, demanding to know how many of the non-citizens charged with serious crimes might be in Illinois.
A United States Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report shows 662,000 non-citizens with criminal history or charges are currently in the United States: 435,000 convicted criminals, and 226,000 with pending criminal charges. Sen. Syverson says it is important to note that number could be low considering the number of states, including Illinois, that do not report non-citizen crimes.
“Based on this report and knowing Illinois is a welcoming state, it is easy to conclude there are tens of thousands of non-citizens who have violent criminal histories walking the streets in our communities. In his first week in office, Governor Pritzker issued an Executive Order expanding programs and funding for non-citizens. Later that year, he issued a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State, saying that he consented to illegal immigrants coming here, adding that he wanted to extend to them a warm welcome,” Sen. Syverson said. “Since then, he has repeatedly increased services, on the taxpayers’ dime, to encourage non-citizens to come here. When you roll out the welcome mat but don’t screen who is coming to our state, you end up with the problems that Illinois is now facing.”
Sen. Syverson notes that under Governor Pritzker, Illinois has gone from allocating a few million dollars per year for non-citizen programs to more than a billion dollars, and the Governor recently raised taxes by nearly a billion dollars to pay for it.
“If you’re a resident of Illinois, you should know that the Governor has given your money to non-citizens, given them free healthcare and millions of your dollars in services, and he has made it nearly impossible to do anything about the criminals who take him up on his offer,” Sen. Syverson said. “The Governor is throwing your money around, and he doesn’t care if your hometown becomes an oasis for criminals from other countries. This cannot continue.”