Our Statement on the Dehumanizing Daily Illini Cartoon

Recently, on Tuesday, October 27th the Daily Illini (DI) published a cartoon that portrays a white man dressed as stated “an illegal immigrant” for Halloween. We, the CU Immigration Forum, are disappointed by the publication, but more so the limited knowledge and understanding that surrounds immigration reform and the term “illegal” to describe human beings.

Our nation is built on the foundation of immigrants and should celebrate the diversity and cultures that immigrants offer. However, this cartoon is ignorant to the risks involved and what people leave behind who immigrate to the United States. The cartoon also dehumanizes the reasons why people cross the U.S. Mexico border in the first place. Our DREAMers who already experience daily forms of institutionalized racism on this campus are affected by the image because of the sacrifices they themselves, families, and friends have made to live in this country.

Several children in CU were forced to migrate here on their own to escape cruel poverty or gang violence. There are thousands of children throughout the United States in this situation. We consider their journey dangerous and brave—not a joke. The cartoon attempts to silence the deaths of over 6,000 men, women, and children along the border since 2000. Every person deserves the right to have access to food, water, shelter, live without violence, and happiness. When these fundamental rights are denied the human spirit will fight.

In this moment, CU Immigration Forum stands in solidarity with our DREAMers at UIUC, and the immigrant and Latino/a communities of Champaign-Urbana. We want to shed light on the strength of our DREAMers and immigrants who continue to strive in the face of these “accidental” or “well-intentioned” acts of violence, from the symbolic to the visceral (or “physical or “deadly”), on a daily basis.

This cartoon is unacceptable, but let it be a reminder to raise your voice against injustice, advocate for transparency and inclusion, and appreciate the diversity of our classroom, workplace, and home. We will continue to organize for the progress of immigrants because no human being is “illegal,” and everyone should be treated with compassion and dignity, whatever their status.

In Solidarity,
CU Immigration Forum

Celebrating Immigrant-Friendly Healthcare Providers & Advocates, Continuing the Conversation

For more information, contact: CU Immigration Forum
[info@cuimmigrationforum.org; 217-337-1500]

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT 

ENSURING HEALTHCARE FOR ALL ILLINOISANS

CU Immigration Forum Celebrates Immigrant-Friendly 

Healthcare Providers, Continues the Conversation 

[November 10, 2015; Champaign County, IL] The CU Immigration Forum announces that ensuring access to quality healthcare for all Illinoisans has officially become another key component of their Immigrant Friendly Communities Campaign. As of October 14, the CU Immigration Forum Steering Committee has officially endorsed the Healthy Illinois Campaign, which aims to insure all Illinoisans, despite a person’s documentation status. The CU Immigration Forum has endorsed the Healthy Illinois Campaign with the understanding that expanding health insurance coverage to all Illinoisans will benefit the entire state by promoting positive health outcomes, family financial stability, and a more secure Illinois economy.

To celebrate the immigrant-friendly work of our local healthcare providers and agencies and to kick off the Healthy Illinois Campaign locally, the CU Immigration Forum will host the Immigrant Friendly Health Fair & Forum on Tuesday, November 10, 2015. The event will take place from 5pm to 8pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Champaign-Urbana, 309 W. Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

We Celebrate & Recognize We Can Do More: Local governments, institutions and agencies work hard to provide and ensure quality primary and preventative healthcare to residents of Champaign County, despite a person’s income level, documentation status or English language proficiency. In celebration, the CU Immigration Forum would like to lift up the immigrant-friendly work that takes place in our local, healthcare service and advocacy settings; such as the tireless commitment of agencies like Avicenna, Promise Healthcare and the Champaign County Healthcare Consumers. However, it is our local non-profit agencies who are the most burdened with providing healthcare to their remaining uninsured residents, of whom are largely undocumented immigrants. Uninsured residents will eventually, by age or accident, find themselves in emergency rooms and the uncompensated care health system. The State of Illinois has an interest in providing primary and preventative care early, rather than more expensive and intrusive care when it is too late.

The Fair & Forum: At the event, all residents of Champaign County are welcome to receive free medical screenings, information about healthcare resources such as free medical clinics and attend presentations on navigating the healthcare marketplace, dealing with culture shock and transitioning as a newcomer, and getting connected with low-cost immigration legal assistance. Childcare will be provided at the event.

During the Fair, Healthy Illinois will host a community forum on ensuring Illinois’s future by insuring all Illinoisans from 7pm to 8pm, which will take place in the Children’s Fellowship Hall of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Champaign-Urbana. The mission of the Healthy Illinois Campaign is to make quality, affordable health care coverage accessible to all people in Illinois. For more information about Healthy Illinois, please click here for a one page overview. For further questions, please contact Campaign Director Jesse Hoyt of the Healthy Illinois Campaign [(773)507-4809; jessehoyt@healthyillinoiscampaign.org].

Click here to download the event flyer. (pdf)
Haga clic aquí para descargar el folleto. (pdf)
Cliquez ici pour télécharger le flyer. (pdf)

Immigrant-Friendly Fair & Forum events:

Fellowship Hall: 5pm to 8pm
-Free Healthcare Screenings
-Immigrant-Friendly Health & Community Resource Booths

Children’s Fellowship Hall: 5:30pm to 8pm
-5:30 Navigating the Healthcare SystemChampaign County Healthcare Consumers
-6:00 Low-Cost Immigration Legal Assistance (The Immigration Project)
-6:30 Dealing With Culture Shock & Transitioning (East Central Illinois Refugee Mutual Assistance Center (ECIRMAC))
-7:00 Immigrant Family Forum on Healthcare Access (Healthy Illinois Campaign)

  

Additional Details:
This event is completely free and open to the public. Parking is available behind the church and on High St. Free childcare will be additionally provided at the event.

A BIG thank you to our participating agencies and sponsors:
​Ambit Energy, Avicenna Community Health Center, Congolese Community of Champaign County, Champaign County Christian Health Center, Champaign County Health Care Consumers, CU Immigration Forum, East Central Illinois Refugee Mutual Assistance Center, Frances Nelson Health Center, Healthy Illinois, HeRMES, Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Association, The Immigration Project, Smile Healthy, Social Action Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana-Champaign, University YMCA, and the Urbana Adult Education Center
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