Nearly two years after the fatal hate crime stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy, Illinois elected officials are honoring what would have been his eighth birthday by pushing for improved safety of immigrant and refugee children.

Wadee Alfayoumi died in October 2023 after he was stabbed 26 times by his landlord, Joseph Czuba, who prosecutors said had been radicalized by conservative commentary and targeted Wadee and his mother because they were Muslim. The crime came shortly after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel, which sparked Israeli raids and attacks that have killed nearly 70,000 Palestinians in the two years since.

Wadee would have turned 8 on Monday. Illinois elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and Reps. Delia Ramirez and L

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