The State of Illinois is honoring four local groups and leaders for improving the lives of immigrants. This afternoon, the Illinois Department of Human Rights held an awards presentation at the Martin Luther King Center in Rock Island.
Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti spoke to a large crowd about her own heritage as the daughter of a Cuban refugee and an immigrant from Ecuador. She says all of our backgrounds are different, but there's no limit to what we can do together.
The four honorees include:
- Robert and Blenda Ontiveros, founders of Group O,
- World Relief in Moline,
- The Greater Quad Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,
- The Quad Cities Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees.
The bicentennial of Illinois includes proclaiming June as "Immigrant Heritage Month." So the state Human Rights Department is asking 200 cities and counties to pledge support for fairness, equality, non-discrimination, and inclusion.
Also at today's ceremony, Moline and Rock Island officials announced the city councils have already signed proclamations to do so.