Thread: Protest planned as crackdown causes stir in suburbs

Protest planned as crackdown proposal causes stir in suburb

By John Keilman
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 3, 2006


CARPENTERSVILLE -- If Carpentersville passes an ordinance aimed at driving away illegal immigrants, many Hispanic residents say, the village should be ready to post a "going out of business" sign.

"It's going to be devastating to the economy," said hospital security officer Omar Granados, 40, who was doing his laundry Monday at a strip mall catering to Latino customers.



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The Village Board is scheduled to discuss a measure Tuesday that would penalize employers who hire illegal immigrants and landlords who rent to them. It also would make English the official language for village documents.

Towns around the country have passed similar measures, but Carpentersville's ordinance appears to be the first of its kind in the Chicago area.

No vote is expected Tuesday, but the introduction of the proposal already has set off a furious reaction. Opponents said they will hold a 6 p.m. protest at Village Hall before the 7:30 p.m. meeting.

"We feel that [immigration] is an issue that involves everybody, and they're targeting the Mexican people," said Juan Silva, president of the Mexican Civic and Cultural Organization of Elgin, which is organizing the demonstration. "We don't want them to even consider [the ordinance]."

Trustee Judy Sigwalt, who is introducing the measure with her colleague Paul Humpfer, said she wouldn't be swayed by the protest. Sigwalt predicted that many supporters of the ordinance would show up too.

"For the U.S. citizen who pays their taxes here, the bottom line is that not everybody pays their fair share of taxes," she said. "When you have four and five families living in a single family dwelling, not everybody is paying property taxes. It is a drain and a strain on our services. The poor senior, the blue-collar worker in this town. ... We have to pick up the slack."

Some Latino residents of the village, which is 40 percent Hispanic, said illegal immigrants bring more to Carpentersville than they take.

Lourdes Mendoza, 52, who said she has been in the village for 17 years, said they take the hardest jobs in construction, factories and restaurants and patronize local businesses and pay rent for local apartments.

"Without Hispanics, Carpentersville would be empty," she said.

Roberto Ruiz-Perez, 32, who said he came to the U.S. from Mexico seven years ago and is now a legal resident, said illegal immigrants have helped the village's economy grow.

"There are a lot of people who don't have documents who work very hard," he said. "This country would be very poor without them."

Such arguments didn't sway Michael Evansen, 51, a retired union carpenter who said he has lived in the village for four years. Illegal immigrants, he said, "aren't complying with our values" by failing to learn English or blend in with mainstream culture.

Most of all, he said, they are breaking the law.

"If they don't belong here, they don't belong here," he said.

Carpentersville officials are bracing for a raucous meeting Tuesday. Village Manager Craig Anderson said calls have poured into his office from around the Chicago area, with many people asking directions to Village Hall.

Sigwalt said that almost every e-mail and phone call she has received supported the ordinance. The messages have come from as far away as New York, she said.

She didn't accept the concerns about economic meltdown posited by the ordinance's opponents.

"If they feel that this whole village would grind to a halt, that would mean that every worker in this town is illegal," she said. "And then I would say we definitely have a problem, and Trustee Humpfer and I are on the way to solving it."

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jkeilman@tribune.com



Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune


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"There are a lot of people who don't have documents who work very hard," he said. "This country would be very poor without them."

This country was not poor before these illegals entered the country and it won't be poor if they leave.

"If they feel that this whole village would grind to a halt, that would mean that every worker in this town is illegal," she said. "And then I would say we definitely have a problem, and Trustee Humpfer and I are on the way to solving it."

Exactly. The only reason it would fail is because the original residents were driven out. These towns were towns before they got here. This country was working before they got here.

How could the town be poorer if all the illegals leave????
Now the citizens won't have to pay for the illegals free healthcare, schooling, incarceration, etc!!!
Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

CARPENTERSVILLE -- If Carpentersville passes an ordinance aimed at driving away illegal immigrants, many Hispanic residents say, the village should be ready to post a "going out of business" sign.

"It's going to be devastating to the economy," said hospital security officer Omar Granados, 40, who was doing his laundry Monday at a strip mall catering to Latino customers.

I guess we're fortunate that the country didn't have a lot of people like this in the 1930's. America would have been sold befor we ever got to WW II. Go home to your sinkhole!

Don't forget we have a Carpentersville, IL Focus Campaign page to help fight to pass the ordinance.

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... c&p=223923

Don't leave mad, just leave