Chicago City Wire

Passed bill authored by State Rep. Lilian Jiménez aims to ensure all children in Illinois have access to free public education regardless of immigration status and seeks to prevent discrimination and unauthorized information disclosure in schools, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

In the House, 70 Democrats voted in favor of the bill, while two Democrats and 38 Republicans opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 32 Democrats voted in favor of the bill, while one Democrat and 19 Republicans voted against it.

Jiménez introduced the bill in the Illinois House on Feb. 6, 2025 during the 104th session.

The legislation, known as HB3247, was passed on May 31, 2025 during the general assembly session 104.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill's official text as follows: "Amends the School Code. Prohibits a child from being denied a free public education through secondary school while in the State based on the child's or associated person's perceived or actual citizenship or immigration status. Prohibits a school from excluding a child, or associated person, from participation in or denying a child, or associated person, the benefits of any program or activity on the grounds of that child's, or associated person's, actual or perceived citizenship or immigration status. Provides that a school must not use criteria, measures, or methods of administration that have the effect of excluding from participation or denying the benefits of any program or activity because of a child's, or associated person's, actual or perceived immigration status. Prohibits a school from threatening to disclose information regarding or relating to the actual or perceived citizenship or immigration status of a child, or associated person, or actually disclosing information based on perceived or unverified citizenship or immigration status, to any other person, entity, or any immigration or law enforcement agency. Provides that a school must not allow an immigration agent to enter a school site or school district facility for any purpose without providing valid identification, a written statement of purpose, and a valid judicial warrant, and, to the extent possible, receiving approval from the superintendent of the school district or the principal of the charter school, and their legal counsel. Provides that a school district or school must not detain any individual solely on the basis of any formal or informal request, or immigration detainer or civil immigration warrant from an immigration agent. Requires a school district or school to adopt a policy for complying with the amendatory Act. Allows any party aggrieved by a violation of the provisions to bring a civil lawsuit no later than 2 years after the violation occurred. Provides that if the court finds that a violation has occurred, the court may award to the plaintiff 3 times actual damages or $17,000, whichever is greater. Makes other changes."

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Illinois School Code to prohibit the denial of a free public education through secondary school based on a child's or associated person's actual or perceived citizenship or immigration status. It forbids schools from excluding students or associated persons from programs or activities due to their immigration status and mandates that schools cannot disclose related information to external entities or allow immigration agents access without appropriate legal warrants. The bill requires schools to establish a policy for compliance and allows individuals affected by violations to file civil lawsuits within two years, with potential damages of three times actual damages or $17,000, whichever is greater. The bill aims to ensure all children in the state have access to education without fear of discrimination or legal reprisal based on their immigration status, effective consistent with the Plyler v. Doe decision.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Aarón M. Ortíz (Democrat-1st District), Sen. Adriane Johnson (Democrat-30th District), and Rep. Ann M. Williams (Democrat-11th District), along with 40 other sponsors.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Jiménez graduated from DePaul University in 2000 with a BA and again in 2011 from DePaul University School of Law with a JD.

Jiménez, a Democrat, was elected to the Illinois State House in 2023 to represent the state's 4th House District, replacing previous state representative Delia Ramirez.

Some lawmakers were physically present but did not vote. Those marked "Present" formally abstained by choosing not to vote either "Yea" or "Nay", while those listed as "Not Voting" were in attendance but did not cast any vote. Others were not present at all—either listed as "Absent" without formal explanation or marked as having an "Excused Absence", indicating their absence was approved in advance, often for personal or medical reasons.

Legislator	Party	District	Vote
Adriane Johnson	Democrat	30th District	Yea
Andrew S. Chesney	Republican	45th District	Nay
Bill Cunningham	Democrat	18th District	Yea
Celina Villanueva	Democrat	12th District	Yea
Chapin Rose	Republican	51st District	Nay
Chris Balkema	Republican	53rd District	Nay
Christopher Belt	Democrat	57th District	Not vote
Craig Wilcox	Republican	32nd District	Nay
Cristina Castro	Democrat	22nd District	Yea
Dale Fowler	Republican	59th District	Nay
Darby A. Hills	Republican	26th District	Nay
Dave Syverson	Republican	35th District	Nay
David Koehler	Democrat	46th District	Yea
Donald P. DeWitte	Republican	33rd District	Nay
Doris Turner	Democrat	48th District	Not vote
Elgie R. Sims, Jr.	Democrat	17th District	Yea
Emil Jones, III	Democrat	14th District	Yea
Erica Harriss	Republican	56th District	Nay
Graciela Guzmán	Democrat	20th District	Yea
Jason Plummer	Republican	55th District	Nay
Javier L. Cervantes	Democrat	1st District	Yea
Jil Tracy	Republican	50th District	Nay
John F. Curran	Republican	41st District	Nay
Julie A. Morrison	Democrat	29th District	Yea
Karina Villa	Democrat	25th District	Yea
Kimberly A. Lightford	Democrat	4th District	Not vote
Lakesia Collins	Democrat	5th District	Yea
Laura Ellman	Democrat	21st District	Yea
Laura Fine	Democrat	9th District	Not vote
Laura M. Murphy	Democrat	28th District	Yea
Li Arellano, Jr.	Republican	37th District	Nay
Linda Holmes	Democrat	42nd District	Yea
Mark L. Walker	Democrat	27th District	Not vote
Mary Edly-Allen	Democrat	31st District	Yea
Mattie Hunter	Democrat	3rd District	Yea
Meg Loughran Cappel	Democrat	49th District	Yea
Michael E. Hastings	Democrat	19th District	Yea
Michael W. Halpin	Democrat	36th District	Yea
Mike Porfirio	Democrat	11th District	Yea
Mike Simmons	Democrat	7th District	Yea
Mr. President	Democrat	39th District	Yea
Napoleon Harris, III	Democrat	15th District	Not vote
Neil Anderson	Republican	47th District	Nay
Omar Aquino	Democrat	2nd District	Yea
Patrick J. Joyce	Democrat	40th District	Nay
Paul Faraci	Democrat	52nd District	Yea
Rachel Ventura	Democrat	43rd District	Yea
Ram Villivalam	Democrat	8th District	Yea
Robert F. Martwick	Democrat	10th District	Yea
Robert Peters	Democrat	13th District	Yea
Sally J. Turner	Republican	44th District	Nay
Sara Feigenholtz	Democrat	6th District	Yea
Seth Lewis	Republican	24th District	Nay
Steve McClure	Republican	54th District	Nay
Steve Stadelman	Democrat	34th District	Yea
Sue Rezin	Republican	38th District	Nay
Suzy Glowiak Hilton	Democrat	23rd District	Yea
Terri Bryant	Republican	58th District	Nay
Willie Preston	Democrat	16th District	Not vote

Legislator	Party	District	Vote
Aarón M. Ortíz	Democrat	1st District	Yea
Abdelnasser Rashid	Democrat	21st District	Yea
Adam M. Niemerg	Republican	102nd District	Nay
Amy Briel	Democrat	76th District	Yea
Amy Elik	Republican	111th District	Nay
Amy L. Grant	Republican	47th District	Nay
Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar	Democrat	22nd District	Not vote
Ann M. Williams	Democrat	11th District	Yea
Anna Moeller	Democrat	43rd District	Yea
Anne Stava	Democrat	81st District	Yea
Anthony DeLuca	Democrat	80th District	Yea
Barbara Hernandez	Democrat	50th District	Yea
Blaine Wilhour	Republican	110th District	Nay
Bob Morgan	Democrat	58th District	Yea
Brad Halbrook	Republican	107th District	Nay
Brad Stephens	Republican	20th District	Nay
Bradley Fritts	Republican	74th District	Nay
Brandun Schweizer	Republican	104th District	Nay
Camille Y. Lilly	Democrat	78th District	Yea
Carol Ammons	Democrat	103rd District	Yea
Charles Meier	Republican	109th District	Nay
Chris Miller	Republican	101st District	Nay
Christopher "C.D." Davidsmeyer	Republican	100th District	Nay
Curtis J. Tarver, II	Democrat	25th District	Not vote
Dagmara Avelar	Democrat	85th District	Yea
Dan Swanson	Republican	71st District	Nay
Dan Ugaste	Republican	65th District	Nay
Daniel Didech	Democrat	59th District	Yea
Dave Severin	Republican	116th District	Nay
Dave Vella	Democrat	68th District	Yea
David Friess	Republican	115th District	Nay
Debbie Meyers-Martin	Democrat	38th District	Yea
Dennis Tipsword	Republican	105th District	Nay
Diane Blair-Sherlock	Democrat	46th District	Nay
Edgar González, Jr.	Democrat	23rd District	Yea
Elizabeth "Lisa" Hernandez	Democrat	2nd District	Yea
Eva-Dina Delgado	Democrat	3rd District	Yea
Fred Crespo	Democrat	44th District	Yea
Gregg Johnson	Democrat	72nd District	Yea
Harry Benton	Democrat	97th District	Yea
Hoan Huynh	Democrat	13th District	Yea
Jackie Haas	Republican	79th District	Nay
Jaime M. Andrade, Jr.	Democrat	40th District	Yea
Janet Yang Rohr	Democrat	41st District	Yea
Jason R. Bunting	Republican	106th District	Nay
Jawaharial Williams	Democrat	10th District	Yea
Jay Hoffman	Democrat	113th District	Yea
Jed Davis	Republican	75th District	Nay
Jeff Keicher	Republican	70th District	Not vote
Jehan Gordon-Booth	Democrat	92nd District	Yea
Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz	Democrat	17th District	Yea
Jennifer Sanalitro	Republican	48th District	Nay
Joe C. Sosnowski	Republican	69th District	Nay
John M. Cabello	Republican	90th District	Nay
Joyce Mason	Democrat	61st District	Yea
Justin Slaughter	Democrat	27th District	Yea
Kam Buckner	Democrat	26th District	Yea
Katie Stuart	Democrat	112th District	Yea
Kelly M. Cassidy	Democrat	14th District	Yea
Kevin John Olickal	Democrat	16th District	Yea
Kevin Schmidt	Republican	114th District	Nay
Kimberly Du Buclet	Democrat	5th District	Yea
Kyle Moore	Republican	99th District	Nay
La Shawn K. Ford	Democrat	8th District	Yea
Laura Faver Dias	Democrat	62nd District	Yea
Lawrence "Larry" Walsh, Jr.	Democrat	86th District	Yea
Lilian Jiménez	Democrat	4th District	Yea
Lindsey LaPointe	Democrat	19th District	Yea
Lisa Davis	Democrat	32nd District	Yea
Marcus C. Evans, Jr.	Democrat	33rd District	Yea
Margaret Croke	Democrat	12th District	Yea
Martha Deuter	Democrat	45th District	Yea
Martin J. Moylan	Democrat	55th District	Yea
Martin McLaughlin	Republican	52nd District	Nay
Mary Beth Canty	Democrat	54th District	Yea
Mary Gill	Democrat	35th District	Present
Matt Hanson	Democrat	83rd District	Yea
Maura Hirschauer	Democrat	49th District	Yea
Maurice A. West, II	Democrat	67th District	Yea
Michael Crawford	Democrat	31st District	Yea
Michael J. Coffey, Jr.	Republican	95th District	Nay
Michael J. Kelly	Democrat	15th District	Nay
Michelle Mussman	Democrat	56th District	Yea
Mr. Speaker	Democrat	7th District	Yea
Nabeela Syed	Democrat	51st District	Yea
Natalie A. Manley	Democrat	98th District	Yea
Nicholas K. Smith	Democrat	34th District	Yea
Nicole La Ha	Republican	82nd District	Nay
Nicolle Grasse	Democrat	53rd District	Yea
Norine K. Hammond	Republican	94th District	Nay
Norma Hernandez	Democrat	77th District	Yea
Patrick Sheehan	Republican	37th District	Nay
Patrick Windhorst	Republican	117th District	Nay
Paul Jacobs	Republican	118th District	Nay
Regan Deering	Republican	88th District	Nay
Rick Ryan	Democrat	36th District	Not vote
Rita Mayfield	Democrat	60th District	Yea
Robert "Bob" Rita	Democrat	28th District	Yea
Robyn Gabel	Democrat	18th District	Yea
Ryan Spain	Republican	73rd District	Nay
Sharon Chung	Democrat	91st District	Yea
Sonya M. Harper	Democrat	6th District	Yea
Stephanie A. Kifowit	Democrat	84th District	Yea
Steven Reick	Republican	63rd District	Nay
Sue Scherer	Democrat	96th District	Absent, excused
Suzanne M. Ness	Democrat	66th District	Yea
Terra Costa Howard	Democrat	42nd District	Yea
Thaddeus Jones	Democrat	29th District	Absence
Theresa Mah	Democrat	24th District	Yea
Tom Weber	Republican	64th District	Nay
Tony M. McCombie	Republican	89th District	Nay
Tracy Katz Muhl	Democrat	57th District	Yea
Travis Weaver	Republican	93rd District	Nay
Wayne A. Rosenthal	Republican	108th District	Absent, excused
Will Guzzardi	Democrat	39th District	Yea
William "Will" Davis	Democrat	30th District	Yea
William E Hauter	Republican	87th District	Nay
Yolonda Morris	Democrat	9th District	Yea