Chicago Suburb Waukegan in Uproar Over Alleged Racist Police Program

The city of Waukegan, Ill., is in an uproar over a new police training program. The new program, according to the immigrant groups protesting it, say that it will lead to heavy racial profiling in the city and purposely attack those who are racially different. The voting over the new program will start on Monday.

At 100. N. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue lies Waukegan City Hall. And while the building only seats a few hundred people, thousands of protesters are expected to attend the meeting. Many will not be able to sit in the hall, and many will stand outside waiting to hear the news from inside.

Those who are protesting say that they have a good reason to be doing so. They say that the new federal police training program will target undocumented immigrants or immigrants with sketchy backgrounds. The immigrant groups are walking tall with signs, hoping, in the end, that the city will reconsider the police training program.

So far the vote the groups state that the vote is 7-2 to enforce the program. The entire training has to do with teaching two detectives immigration enforcement. However, the immigrant rights groups say that all this does is encourage racial profiling, harassment, and bullying of undocumented immigrants in Waukegan.

"No one in America should have to go through this. Racial profiling is horrible and all this new program does is teach people how to harass immigrants...It needs to be stopped, and soon. It's racist," said an immigrant group support, Mariana Hernandez.

On the flip side, many believe that the new program would benefit the community and possibly clean up the area. Police support and explain the program as being one that will allow illegal immigrants who have committed crimes to be deported without help from the federal government.

"I think that the police program in Waukegan is a good thing. If you are illegal, you should not be here. It's as simple as that. The program does not specifically harass immigrants, especially legal immigrants. It gets illegals out of the community, especially dangerous ones who commit crimes," said former Waukegan resident Anna Jacobs.

The immigrant groups are also doing more besides protesting down at the city hall. Groups are encouraging people to boycott businesses that don't support their fight.

As previously stated, Monday will be the day when city officials decide whether or not the federal program will be pulled from Waukegan's police department.

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