SPRINGFIELD, ILLILNOIS (April 9, 2025) — Building relationships with state leaders in Illinois takes on new importance these days for Muslims and immigrants facing unprecedented challenges, under a new federal administration determined to roll back legal protections. Illinois Muslim Action Day at the Illinois State Capitol helps strengthen the vital connections.Advocates representing the Muslim and immigrant communities across Chicagoland traveled to the Illinois State Capitol on Wednesday, April 9, to call for strengthening Illinois’ welcoming state policies at a challenging time, for Illinois Muslim Action Day (IMAD).
Leaders with the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC) joined state legislators and other advocates at a Statehouse news conference in the Statehouse Pressroom Blue Room to outline a detailed policy agenda for Illinois Muslim Action Day. The groups’ work takes on new importance for Muslims and immigrants facing obstacles from the new Trump administration in Washington DC.
Leaders used the news conference to outline their efforts that day to connect high school students with dozens of legislators and use meetings to emphasize key policy priorities as lawmakers work through the final two months of the scheduled spring legislative session.
Those policies include:
- Asking legislators to support a resolution that strengthens Illinois’ welcoming state policies by allowing everyone to practice religious beliefs without fear or anxiety in businesses and schools;
- Strengthening Illinois’ TRUST Act through House Bill 2706 and Senate Bill 2305, including preventing law enforcement from acting as an extension of federal immigration enforcement and expanding restrictions on immigration agents’ access to individuals in law-enforcement custody;
- Supporting the Clean Slate Illinois initiative, to make it easier and more affordable for individuals to seal criminal records for certain offenses, as they work to get jobs, safe housing, education, and more;
- Removing restrictions in current Illinois law through House Bill 2723 — the Human Rights Advocacy Protection Act — for those who want to peacefully support Palestinian rights; and
- Partnering with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) to increase state funding to $40 million to provide a safety net for immigrant communities — language-accessible case management, program application aid, and targeted cash relief all through the Immigrant Services Line Item (ISLI).
“Imagine waking up every day and not knowing whether your fundamental rights will be violated, or if you will be persecuted or prosecuted in this great country — or even evicted — simply because of who you are and what you believe in,” said Dr Abdulgany Hamadeh, Chairman of CIOGC.
Irshad Khan, IMAD Lead organizer, says this year’s Action Day helps assure hundreds of thousands of people in greater Chicagoland and across Illinois that they still matter, and their elected officials are here to help and support them.
“Illinois Muslim Action Day is our opportunity to advocate for protections and funding, educate our legislators about what’s happening in our communities, and build on the important steps Illinois leaders have taken to welcome Muslims and immigrants, when some of our national leaders are working so hard to drive us away,” Khan said.
As advocates leave the Capitol to return to their communities, they will continue to urge legislators to pass Action Day priorities in the final weeks of the session that embraces the power of collaboration and positive social change, at a time when many people live in fear of what will happen next.
