URGENT UPDATE: HB2723 Hearing CANCELLED AGAIN. Stay Engaged! Send a letter to your legislator NOW!
·
URGENT UPDATE: HB2723 Hearing CANCELLED AGAIN. Stay Engaged! Send a letter to your legislator NOW! ·
Human Rights Are Not Negotiable
Join the fight to restore respect for human rights under Illinois law.
We currently have two bills filed in Springfield that need your support! Send a letter to your legislator NOW in support of The Illinois Human Rights Advocacy Protection Act (anti-BDS repeal), currently scheduled for a committee hearing 2/19. Sign the petitions in support of The BREATHE Act, which bans tear gas and chemical weapons.
Learn more about our work and take further action below!
Illinoisans Stand for Human Rights
Will Springfield stand with us?
Illinois is using its pension system to punish companies that boycott Israel. This does not reflect the will of the people of Illinois or the best interest of our state’s pensions.
The Illinois Coalition for Human Rights exists to challenge policies and practices that sacrifice any of our human rights. We must stand together now because the rights they take from any of us today, they take from all of us tomorrow.
In 2015, IL became the first state to pass anti-BDS legislation—setting a troubling trend as the first state in the nation to crack down on non-violent protest in this way. Today, 38 total states have enacted anti-BDS laws or executive orders that restrict state government contracts or investments based on participation in boycotts of Israel.
They Profit from the Violence.
We're Ending the Silence.
From Palestine to Illinois, our communities are united against state oppression—and the laws designed to keep us quiet. When we see the tools of our destruction being shared by the same people who are profiting from our pain, we cannot be expected to remain silent.
Stand with us for our shared human rights, before it's too late.
A Palestinian youth with a gas mask grabs a tear gas grenade fired by Israeli forces during clashes in the West Bank town of Bethlehem protesting Israeli attacks on Gaza, November 20, 2012. Photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org
Residents and protesters clash with federal agents on the Southeast Side of Chicago, October 14, 2025, after a vehicle crash involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Photo: The Washington Post via Getty Images
We’re Fighting Back by Legislating
ICHR has introduced two important bills in Springfield this session, both of which will protect our rights and our communities.
IL HRAPA
Illinois Human Rights Advocacy Protection Act
Repeals the 2015 law that punishes companies for boycotting. Restores the First Amendment right to political protest through economic action—the same right that ended apartheid and Jim Crow.
STATUS: In committee. File a witness slip to tell the committee that Illinoisans want to protect our right to protest.
BREATHE Act
Ban Tear Gas & Restrict Chemical Weapons
Bans tear gas and heavily regulates pepper spray use by law enforcement in Illinois. Filed in response to the routine and abusive deployment of chemical agents against civilian communities across Chicagoland with zero meaningful accountability.
STATUS: Newly filed. Sign the petitions to send a letter to your legislator demanding they co-sponsor this bill, & to support the bill.
We’re building something bigger than any single campaign.
We’re building the durable base to protect all our human rights across Illinois and around the world.
Illinois Coalition for Human Rights Members
![Secondary Logo 1 (Yellow with Outline) [Sunrise Chicago].png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67d4fc7096837360a89e824b/1771001003994-DLMKK9TWMSI5VESXRL1B/Secondary+Logo+1+%28Yellow+with+Outline%29+%5BSunrise+Chicago%5D.png)
Human Rights News
-
![A residential building hit by an Israeli airstrike catches fire in Rafah on March 26, 2024. Photo by Jehad Alshrafi/Anadolu via Getty Images]()
Israel ‘Evaporated’ Over 2,800 Palestinians With US-Made Bombs: Report
Zeteo February 2026 — The Trump and Biden administrations armed Israel with thousands of 2,000-pound bombs that have vaporized flesh and decimated Gaza.
-
![The Trump administration is sending pregnant unaccompanied minors to a South Texas shelter (above) flagged as medically inadequate by ORR officials. The facility is run by a for-profit contractor called Urban Strategies. Founder and president Lisa Cu]()
Trump administration is sending pregnant migrant girls to Texas shelter criticized as medically inadequate
The Texas Tribune February 2026 — Government sources and advocates for the children worry the goal is to concentrate them in Texas, where abortion is banned.
-
![]()
Guzmán champions Illinois Human Rights Advocacy Protection Act: ‘Boycotting is an expression of free speech’
Press Release May 2025 — “Overturning this law is long past due, and with it Illinois can live up to its legacy as a state that champions freedom, human rights and basic principles of decency.”
-
![]()
Democrats, advocates demand action on Illinois Human Rights Advocacy Protection Act
Wand News January 2026 — Democratic lawmakers are renewing their push for the Illinois Investment Policy Board to stop restricting state funding for companies boycotting Israel. The Coalition for Human Rights says the current state law is dangerous for people protesting the war in Gaza.
Take Action Now
Know someone who should be here? Spread the word.
Share our petitions, send someone the witness slip link, or bring a friend to a lobby day. The more voices, the harder we are to ignore.
SIGN A PETITION
Add your name to support the repeal of Illinois's anti-boycott law—and our other active campaigns. Takes 30 seconds and tells Springfield we're paying attention.
FILE A SLIP
ILHRAPA (anti-BDS repeal) is in committee right now. A witness slip is the fastest way to put your support on the record—takes under two minutes.
SHOW UP
Join our next lobby day in Springfield. We'll train you, transport you, and walk you through every meeting. No experience needed.
DONATE
Lobby days, legal research, and grassroots organizing don't fund themselves. Your donation keeps this movement moving.
SPREAD THE WORD!
Print and distribute this flyer in your communities (think your local coffee shop, your community organization, your campus, etc.) Things are changing quickly with this bill— it is being scheduled and cancelled in committee — the QR code on this flyer goes to our “Witness Slips” page, which is regularly updated as things with The Illinois Human Rights Advocacy Protection Act develop.