Some things should be left untouched.

Illinois State Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) filed bill HR0101 in the clerk’s office Feb. 7,  which urges the United States Congress to declare the City of Chicago the 51st state of the United States of America and separate it from the rest of Illinois. That same day, Illinois State Reps. Chris Miller (R-Robinson) and Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) added themselves onto the bill as chief co-sponsors.

The three-page long bill claims the “majority of the residents in downstate Illinois disagree with the City of Chicago on issues such as gun ownership, abortion, immigration and other policy issues.” Not only does the content of the bill sound absurd, but the bill is a resolution bill, which means it does not need approval from the state Senate or the governor.

Since Hawaii’s ratification as America’s 50th state on Aug. 21, 1959, the United States has not ratified anymore territories into states. It’s quite the long shot that Chicago will become the nation’s 51st state, as so many factors play into the situation that could make this a mountain out of a molehill. If these Illinois lawmakers want to separate Chicago from the rest of the state, what then happens to Chicagoland?

Countless suburbs surround The Windy City from every direction, and many of its inhabitants travel into the city for work and other ventures each day. Will Chicagoland be considered Illinois or a part of this newfound state?

For years, residents in Central and Southern Illinois have felt Chicago runs the entire state of Illinois, both politically and socially. Maybe that’s why three downstate politicians created this bill in the first place. Either way, that’s no reason to separate an entire city from a state.

This problem probably occurs in other states like New York and California, with their most populated cities — New York City and Los Angeles respectively — but those cities have not become states yet, nor will they ever in future years.

In the 2016 election, Democratic nominee and former First Lady Hillary Clinton won Illinois’ 20 electoral votes because Chicago is mostly democratic. Out of the 102 counties in Illinois, Clinton only won 12 of them.

These statistics do not impress downstate Illinoisans, but if Chicago were to become its own state, there would have to be some serious changes to not only the congressional districts, but also those within the state legislature.  

Who knows what these Illinois state representatives had in mind when they proposed this bill or what they still have in mind today. Whatever the case, this needs to stop before the situation grows out of hand. There is no way Chicago would become its own state.

It very well could in the future, when pigs fly and a majority of the country’s inhabitants live in mobile homes, but like this situation, that is just wishful thinking.

Noah is a freshman in LAS.

[email protected]