Courtesy of ICIRR
Tuesday night, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), was joined by Governor Pat Quinn, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, Congressman Luis Gutierrez, Senate President John Cullerton, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Assistant Majority Leader Edward Acevedo, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Commissioner Bridget Gainer, Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown, Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran, among others and over 1,000 precinct workers and volunteers to celebrate the electoral work done to date as well as gear up for the largest immigrant get out the vote efforts for the upcoming election on November 6.
“Our immigrant communities have the opportunity to make their voices heard during Early Voting, in addition to November 6 itself,” said ICIRR’s CEO Lawrence Benito. “Between now and Election Day, there is no better way to make sure our voices are heard to keep our families together than to go to the polls and vote.” The Latino and immigrant vote in Illinois and throughout the country has the potential to impact key races on the federal, state and municipal levels. The rally focused on gaining political will in support of comprehensive immigration reform, and other state issues that directly affect our immigrant families in Illinois.
“Latinos are the fastest growing population in the State,” said Senate President John Cullerton. “It is important that they participate in the electoral process to affect change at every level of government,” he added.
ICIRR through its New Americans Democracy Project (NADP) has registered a record number of 26,498 new immigrant voters—58 percent in the City of Chicago and 42 percent in the suburbs. ICIRR will contact 159,885 Latino, Asian and Middle Eastern voters during Early Voting and on Election Day through door knocks, phone calls and mailings.
ICIRR will continue to mobilize the immigrant vote in Chicago and the suburbs, particularly in areas of Suburban Cook County and collar counties–Lake, Will, DuPage and Kane–where the immigrant population has grown significantly over the last decade. For more information about ICIRR’s NADP program or to volunteer please visit http://www.icirr.org/Election-Center.
