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Immigration main theme in race for county board president
By Charles Thomas
October 30, 2006 - The clock is ticking toward Election Day. In the race for Cook County board president immigration has become a main theme of the campaign as Democrat Todd Stroger and Republican Tony Peraica seek support from Chicago's Latino community.

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As Cook County's Democratic machine oils itself, so to speak, during the last week of the campaign it made its pitch to Latino voters. The focus was on the hot button immigration issue and the candidacy of Cook County board president hopeful Todd Stroger.
"Immigrants in Cook County will not be subjected to human rights abuses. They are welcomed, valued and respected," said Todd Stroger, (D)-Cook County Board president candidate.

As he promised to make sure county services are provided to everyone, regardless of their immigration status, candidate Stroger was applauded by Latino civic and political leaders.

"He will stand up for our immigrant community and make sure it is what you need and not what documents you carry in your back pocket," said Rep. Luis Guiterrez, (D)-Chicago.

Latino Democrats organized the event to highlight Stroger's support for a pending resolution that would declare Cook County a "sanctuary" for immigrants, making it illegal for county employees to inquire about a person's immigration status.

County board member and Republican candidate Tony Peraica, a Croatian immigrant, opposes the resolution and called it a politically engineered waste of time.

"Anything that we would pass would be nothing but symbolic and of no consequence to anyone," said Tony Peraica, (R)-Cook County Board president candidate.

On another front, Peraica repeated his demand that Stroger pull a television commercial that the republican Claims misrepresents his stances on tax increases and health care cuts.

"His ad that peddles lies shows that he has no credibility with the voters of Cook County," said Peraica.

But Stroger said the ad is only reporting what Peraica has said in the past and his campaign will continue to show it as well as others.

"Our ads speak to what Mr. Peraica has spoken about. They are just what has said in the past. Maybe sometimes he changes after I talk to him about it, but he has stated certain things and that's what our ads talk about," said Stroger.

Back to the Latino vote: Congressman Guiterrez claimed that there are 45,000 more Latinos registered to vote this year compared to the last general election. Of course, it all depends on how many of those people actually come out to vote next Tuesday. 6





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