WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb declared last week Immigrant Heritage Week at a press conference, today.
In a press release sent out today, Governor Holcomb declared last week as Immigrant Heritage Week. The retrospective declaration of a week dedicated to immigrants rights comes after pressure from Indiana Undocumented Youth Alliance and the American Friends Service Committee.
Governor Holcomb’s signed proclamation states “immigrants have provided the United States with unique and cultural influence, fundamentally enriching the extraordinary nature of our nation.”
At a press conference at the Indiana Statehouse today, representatives from the Indiana Undocumented Youth Alliance praised Holcomb for the declaration of Immigrant Heritage Week.
In the past, the state of Indiana has passed laws limiting the resettlement of refugees and the entrance of immigrants into the state. In 2011, the Indiana General Assembly enacted a bill which included mandatory English-only documentation and allowed law enforcement to racially profile suspects.
The bill was one of 16 companion bills to Arizona’s highly controversial 1070 Senate Bill. That bill was the broadest and strictest anti-illegal immigration bill to ever be passed in Arizona and garnered national attention.
According to a press release from the Quaker-affiliated American Friends Service Committee, “Indiana’s legislative history is a representation of how unwelcoming and harmful the state can be.
It goes on to read, “despite legislation, or lack thereof, immigrant communities have thrived.”
According to recent polling by the Indiana Institute for Working Families, the number of refugees resettled in Indianapolis dropped drastically last year.
Governor Holcomb, who served as Mike Pence’s Lieutenant Governor in 2016, was sworn in as Governor of Indiana in January of 2017.
The year prior, more than 2000 refugees were resettled in the Indianapolis area. That number dropped to just over 600 last year, a 69 percent decrease.
The Indiana Undocumented Youth Alliance praised Holcomb for taking “the right step forward” in today’s declaration of Immigrant Heritage Week, last week.
