SPRINGFIELD | Democrats, with Speaker Chris Welch at the helm, forcefully challenged Trump Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a demonstration countering the rhetoric that Noem brought to Illinois during a stop on her tour promoting Trump’s unconstitutional agenda.
“Instead of disparaging Illinois and its residents, Secretary Noem should have taken the time while she was in our capital city to see the memorials of tens of thousands who fought and died for a nation of laws, where all are created equal,” Welch said. “She should have visited the sites of the 1908 Race Riots to learn the price of hate and demagoguery. She should have come to this beautiful Capitol Building; she should have visited our rotunda and stopped at the statue right in the center and she should have seen on that statue it says ‘Welcome to Illinois.’ This is a welcoming state! She should have visited our Lincoln Museum to learn the words of our greatest president, who said ‘Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.’ She would learn that in Illinois, we know no one is safe when anyone lives in fear.”
While Noem stopped in Springfield Wednesday to defend Trump’s failed immigration policies, which have unilaterally sentenced legal residents to foreign prison camps without a hearing, Welch and his colleagues rallied on the grounds of the State Capitol in support of policies that strengthen relationships between police and immigrant communities.
The chief sponsor of the TRUST Act in 2017, Welch gained bi-partisan support to pass the TRUST Act, which has been consistently supported by law enforcement officers and ensures all Illinois residents have the protection of due process during interactions with law enforcement.
“When Secretary Noem comes to our state’s capital to threaten our communities, she isn’t just coming after immigrants; she’s challenging the laws we built together across party lines for almost two decades,” said Assistant Majority Leader Lisa Hernandez. “In Illinois, we didn’t just talk about protecting families, we acted. We did this because we understand a simple truth: When any community lives in fear, no community truly is safe.”