CAIR-Chicago is a lead organization in the Civil Liberties Coalition of Illinois (CLCI). The CLCI is a grouping of respected organizations in Illinois that each stands firmly in collective opposition to the reauthorization of the sunset, or expiring, provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. Congress plans to vote on the sunset provisions of the act in the late summer or early fall. Included in the CLCI are civil rights organizations, immigrants' rights organizations, legal organizations, as well as faith-based organizations that cover a wide expanse of the political continuum. The CLCI also supports the passage of the SAFE Act, a piece of legislation whose purpose is to curtail the powers of certain sections of the PATRIOT Act. The CLCI hopes to bring attention to the inherent reduction of civil rights and liberties of all Americans as a result of the PATRIOT Act's sunset provisions. The CLCI will be holding press conferences and town hall meetings with Illinois congressional representatives in the near future in order to educate the public on the long term consequences of sunset provision renewal.

Member organizations of the CLCI include CAIR-Chicago, American Civil Liberties Union, Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights, Chicago Council of Lawyers, Cook County Bar Association, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Japanese American Citizens League, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Muslim Bar Association, and the National Lawyers Guild.

If you are interested in contributing your time toward the goals of the above coalition, please email Menna Khalil, CAIR-Chicago's Governmental Relations Intern, atmenna@cairchicago.org.

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