Advocacy Team
State Bills to Improve Supports for Immigrants
Access Living friends and allies,
Today, we call on your help to advocate for immigrants with disabilities in Illinois. Our state legislature is meeting in committees this week that will hear a wide range of bills, including bills to improve supports for immigrants, including those with disabilities. At Access Living, we believe that supporting immigrants of all statuses is an important part of human rights and global advocacy. We are very lucky to live in a state that is breaking new ground in supporting immigrants.
Two time-sensitive ways to help:
Witness Slips Needed for Improving Medicaid Coverage: Illinois is the first state in the country to allow adult undocumented immigrants over a certain age to qualify for Medicaid. Currently, those age 65 and over can participate; later this spring, Illinois Medicaid will begin accepting those 55 and up. Right now, Access Living is supporting the leadership of groups like Healthy Illinois and ICIRR to pass HB 4437, which would ensure that undocumented immigrants ages 18-54 will also be able to benefit from Medicaid.
You can help support HB 4437 by filing an electronic witness slip to show your support by 8 am tomorrow, Tuesday March 17, which is when it will be heard in committee. Here is the link to file a witness slip. Any individual can file a witness slip. When filling out the form:
- For firm/business/agency: put your organization, or “self”
- For representation: put your organization, or “self”
- For description: select “Original Bill”
- Mark yourself as a PROPONENT (this means you support it)
- For testimony: “record of appearance only”
Witness Slips Needed for Immigrant Right to Counsel: SB 3144 asks that the State of Illinois would set up a task force to investigate the need for counsel in immigration proceedings in Illinois. This includes, for example, making sure that immigrants in deportation proceedings can have a legal representative. This is particularly critical for immigrants who have disabilities, whose cases may be very complex and who may be facing a total lack of access to healthcare and supports in their country of origin.
Access Living also supports this bill and we need help filing witness slips for SB 3144 TODAY (3/16) at this link by 2 pm. Any individual can file a witness slip. When filling out the form:
- For firm/business/agency: put your organization, or “self”
- For representation: put your organization, or “self”
- For description: select “Original Bill”
- Mark yourself as a PROPONENT (this means you support it)
- For testimony: “record of appearance only”
Please share this action alert with fellow concerned advocates. Thank you!