Illegal immigrants can keep professional licenses despite deportation with new law

Migrants who get deported from the country may be able to keep their professional license from Illinois under a new law.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the measure into law last week. House Bill 5457 provides that the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation may not revoke, suspend, or take any other disciplinary or non-disciplinary action against a license or permit issued under the law based solely upon an immigration violation.

“The federal government has taken a long time to review their documents to renew certain things, so we don’t want them to be unemployed during that small time they are waiting for that to come,” said state Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, when introducing the measure in the House.

State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, said the state of Illinois will be responsible for policing an immigrant who could be in another country providing services to Illinoisans.

“If a person has a license and has been licensed in the state of Illinois then is subsequently deported, it’s really beyond our control for anything like malpractice, malfeasance or anything else, it’s going to be on us to somehow try to rectify that,” said Ugaste.

The measure also provides that all examinations conducted or authorized by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation must allow reasonable accommodations for applicants for whom English is not their primary language.

The law will go into effect Jan. 1, 2025.