Thread: Illinois: Anti-illegal immigration group miffed about snub

http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art ... /1004/NEWS

Published: March 23, 2006

Local News: Rockford
Anti-illegal immigration group miffed about snub

By Mike Wiser
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR


ROCKFORD — An anti-illegal immigration group is calling a decision to bar them from Memorial Hall “bad government” and are considering legal action.

The Illinois Minuteman Project is a state chapter of the group best known for citizen border patrols last year along the U.S. border with Mexico.

They applied to host a town-hall meeting Sunday at Memorial Hall. Chapter President Rosanna Pudilo said she thought everything was fine until she was told by county leaders that the group was too political.

“I told them that,” Winnebago County Administrator Steve Chapman said Wednesday.

“We have guidelines that we follow ever since the county took over from the convention and visitors bureau three years ago.”

The guidelines say that the hall is available to rent for groups that are “public, nonprofit, and nonpolitical (with the exception of ceremonial events honoring Memorial Hall).” It also gives preference to veterans organizations.

But in January of this year, the pro-home rule group Empower Rockford used the hall as a site for a news conference to kick off its petition drive to place a home-rule referendum on the ballot.

Chapman said that Empower Rockford was a political group, and it “probably” was a mistake to let them use the hall.

“We shouldn’t have allowed that,” he said.

“Since they were for that, it was OK,” Pudilo said. “The biggest thing here is they’ve decided to pick and choose. The same thing happened in Elgin.”

On Feb. 25, the Minuteman Project held a rally in Elgin. According to reports in the Elgin Courier News, the rally went off without a hitch, although the 100-person-strong Minuteman group was met by about an equal number of protest-ers.

Police, meanwhile, called in about 50 officers in riot gear to help with crowd control.

In the run-up to the rally, Pudilo said, government officials tried to dissuade the group from hosting their event.

“But soon as we had a lawyer call them, they let us in,” she said.

Pudilo said she’s considering legal action in the Memorial Hall incident, but she’s set, right now, to host the meeting at 2 p.m. at Stash O’Neil’s, 4846 E. State St.

There’s just not that much time left,” Pudilo said. “We have a speaker lined up. ... I called the owner and told him I know it was late notice, but he said it was OK.”

Interim Police Chief Dominic Iasparro said there are no plans to deploy extra officers to the bar Sunday, but that may change.

“We will take a close look at the group and check with cities that have had them there and plan accordingly,” Iasparro said.

Also with an eye toward the time is Julio Salgado of Belvidere who said Wednesday that he was making calls to organize a counter-meeting.

“I think it’s too early to say what we can do,” Salgado said. “But I’m talking to Hispanic leaders to see if we can organize something ... nothing violent, no fighting, but if they show up, we can show up too.”


Staff writer Mike Wiser can be reached at 815-987-1377 or mwiser@rrstar.com

Geeezzz.

I think Rockford is infiltrated and surrounded.



So I wonder if non-political applies throughout the nation or just in Rockford?

Hey, if they keep this up there won't be a public facility that will allow the Republican or Democratic Conventions.