(The Center Square) – A bill moving through the Illinois General Assembly making it easier to change a person’s name is being criticized for including a loophole for illegal immigrants.
The measure would alter Illinois law and not require a person to notify a newspaper following a name change.
During a recent Senate Executive Committee hearing, state Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, said a flaw in the legislation could help the criminal element fall through the cracks.
“There’s a loophole built into a bill that maybe started off good but potentially is helping people who are here as non-citizens, especially the non-citizens who were caught in my county with almost 6 to 7 pounds of fentanyl which is enough to kill half of Chicago, which is not insignificant,” said Morris.
State Sen. Ram Villivallam, D-Chicago, the bill’s sponsor, said 24 other states have similar legislation in place.
“The name change law already requires folks with criminal records to disclose that information when filing their name change petition with the judge,” said Villivalam. “Second, fraud and criminal records are detected through social security or driver’s license numbers.”
The measure passed out of the committee by a 9-4 vote and could be taken up by the Illinois Senate in January.
The Illinois General Assembly took up the state’s name change laws in 1993 and voted to require that people convicted of felonies wait two years after serving their sentences before becoming eligible to legally change their names.
In 2007, lifetime bans went into effect designed to prevent people from changing their names to escape the sex offender registry or to commit fraud.