Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson joins community, business, labor and faith leaders to call for work permits for long-term residents.

What: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson joins the Latino Policy Forum, diverse business, labor, community, and faith leaders in urging President Biden to extend legal work permits to
long term residents and new arrivals because it is fair, unifies communities and stabilizes the workforce.

Chicago and Illinois is home to 480,000 long term undocumented residents who have lived, worked and helped to build Chicago for 15, 20, and even 25 years incl. 320,000 Mexican residents, 40,000 Black residents (top countries Haiti, Jamaica, Nigeria) link here. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson will join a roundtable discussion to elevate the contributions of long-term Black and Brown residents who have been a vital part of the economic and social fabric of our communities. Undocumented Black and Latino workers in Illinois contribute
$1.5 billion in taxes and make up 26% of the workforce despite being only 17% of the population. Extending legal work permits would help to stabilize our workforce, ensure fair wages, and improved working conditions for all workers, regardless of immigration status.

When: Thursday, April 4, 2024, at 9:15 a.m. Program begins at 9:30 a.m. SHARP

Where: Chicago Urban League
4510 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60653  

Who:
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson

Anna Valencia
City Clerk, City of Chicago

Karen Freeman-Wilson
President & CEO, Chicago Urban League

Sylvia Puente
President & CEO, Latino Policy Forum

Jaime Di Paulo
President and CEO, Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Jim Reynolds,
Chairman and CEO, Loop Capital

Raul Raymundo
President & CEO, The Resurrection Project

Erendira Rendon
Vice President, The Resurrection Project

Martin Cabrera
CEO and Founder of Cabrera Capital Markets (CCM)
Cabrera Capital Partners (CCP)
Executive Committee Member, Chicago Community Trust

Dorri McWhorter
President & CEO, YMCA of Metro Chicago

Rebecca Shi,
Executive Director, American Business Immigration Coalition

Lou Sandoval,
President & CEO, Illinois Chamber of Commerce

Arielle Johnson
President & CEO, Business Leadership Council, Chicago’s Premier Black Business Organization

Jack Lavin
President & CEO, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

Fasika Alem
United African Organization Executive Director

Lou Weeks
Vice President, Unite Here LOCAL 1

Roberto Ramirez,
Founder & CEO, TIDY LLC
Illinois Chamber of Commerce Board Member

Roushaunda Williams
Unite Here Local 1 Leader and Member

Carlil Pittman
Executive Director of Good Kids Mad City
Englewood

Jeff Bartow
Executive Director, Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP)

Sam Sanchez
Chairman & CEO, Third Coast Hospitality
Board Member, National Restaurant Association
Former Chairman, Illinois Restaurant Association

Imelda Salazar
Senior Organizer
Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP)

Richard Townsell
Executive Director
Lawndale Christian Development Corporation

Sergio Suarez
CEO
NAIMA and México en el Corazón

Rev. Dr. Marilyn Pagán-Banks
Executive Director, A Just Harvest
Pastor and Executive Director of San Lucas UCC Pan y Liberación Community Healing and Resource Center
Vision Doula, Black Flower Collective
Board of Directors, National Council of Churches

Rev. Dr. Kenneth D. Phelps
Senior Pastor, Concord Missionary Baptist Church

Karina Ayala- Bermejo
President & CEO, Instituto Del Progreso Latino

Juan Soto
Gamaliel of Metro Chicago

Martin Unzueta
Chicago Community and Workers’ Rights

Jose Frausto
Chicago Workers Collaborative

Alexandra Sossa
Farmworkers & Landscapers Advocacy Project

Rev. Emma Lozano
Lincoln United Methodist Church, LULAC

Juliet de Jesus Alejandre
Palenque LSNA

Marcos Ceniceros
Warehouse Workers for Justice

Giselle Rodriguez
Illinois Workers in Action

Laura Hoover
Children’s Legal Center

Cesar Nuñez
Enlace Chicago

Roberto A. Valdez Jr.
Hispanic Federation

Mark Denzler
President and CEO
Illinois Manufacturers’ Association

Jose M. Muñoz
La Casa Norte

Daysi Funes
Centro Romero