WSIU News Morning Update December 4, 2025 in Carbondale, IL

This is Morning Edition. I'm Leah Lerner reporting WSIU News. Illinois is gearing up for the United States 250th birthday celebration next year. Illinois America 250 is a statewide effort meant to show how Illinois has contributed to the fabric of this country. Concerts, exhibits and festivals are planned up and down the state from its largest cities to its smaller towns and villages. Governor J.B. Pritzker says the events will show the best of America and why its ideals must be defended. At a time when it seems many of our founding principles are being challenged and our institutions are being tested, it is more important than ever to loudly reaffirm our belief in the power and the promise of our constitutional democracy. There will also be efforts to record Illinois stories and call residents to community service. Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin has introduced the Dream Act in every Congress since 2001. He and Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska plan to introduce it again. today. But as Dick Durbin pointed out on the Senate floor, this marks his final introduction of the legislation before the end of his congressional career. This is my last year in the Senate. This is my last opportunity as a senator to make it the law. Over the years, I've met hundreds of amazing dreamers who are American in every sense of the world were except on paper. To those dreamers who've been with me in this fight, I promise to do everything in my power to fight for you and your future every day that I'm here. As I said to you many times, I'm not giving up on you. Don't give up on me. Dick Durbin says the legislation would allow non-citizens without lawful status who were brought to the U.S. as children and meet certain education, military service, or work requirements to earn lawful permanent residents. He contends these young people known as Dreamers have lived in America since they were children, built their lives here and are American in every way except for their immigration status. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has launched the second phase of Operation Robocall Roundup, a nationwide effort to stop illegal robocalls. Raoul and a bipartisan coalition of 50 attorneys general are now investigating four major service providers, ordering them to stop transmitting suspected illegal robocalls. He says companies have received thousands of traceback notices linking them to scam campaigns, impersonating Amazon, Apple, Social Security, and the IRS.