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'One Chicago' Launches, Gives Refugees Easy Access To City Services

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A new online campaign rolled out by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other city officials Sunday sends a clear message to all Chicagoans: You are welcome here.

Rebecca Shi, Director of the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition, said the 'One Chicago' campaign is needed now more than ever.

"The election of President Trump has ushered in an era of anti-immigrant backlash," Shi said. "'Immigrant' has become a bad word. The fear in the immigrant communities is extreme."

 

One Chicago aims to relieve those fears by providing immigrants and refugees with easy access to legal help, medical assistance and other city services online.

Speaking at the DuSable Museum of African American History, Mayor Emanuel said the campaign provides support during frightening and uncertain times.

"The United States government has scared our children into whether they should go about their daily lives believing in what our families believed," Emanuel said. "So whether you're the first generation, the second generation, third generation or you just got here like our Syrian refugees, your dreams are our dreams."

This campaign is one of several initiatives the mayor says he hopes will improve the lives of immigrants in Chicago.

Emanuel said Chicago will continue to be what it has always been -- a welcoming city -- regardless of "who you are or where you came from."

Jennifer Matsuzawa, who's parents were immigrants from Korea, is part of the new campaign. "Growing up, I don't know if being a child of an immigrant was necessarily celebrated. It wasn't something I advertised to friends." She says it's stories like this that help bring immigrants together as a community.

The Trump Administration has threatened to cut off federal funding to so-called "sanctuary cities."

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