Thread: IL: Candidates weigh in on illegal immigration

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Candidates weigh in on illegal immigration
By Rob Phillips
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Sunday, February 18, 2007

While the 10 other Elgin City Council candidates have said illegal immigration is a complicated issue that lies predominately in the hands of the federal government, hopeful Richard Bennett disagrees.

“Illegal means illegal,” said Bennett, who has plastered the same slogan on his campaign yard signs and has worn a badge with the same motto since his campaign began.

“I know they say it is a federal issue, but in order to make a difference we have to start at home. Elgin is home. You arrest these people, put them in jail and send them back to where they came from.”

Bennett, a 66-year-old who is retired from the real estate business, doesn’t hesitate to say that the “growing illegal immigration” problem is why he is running for city council.

A Feb. 27 primary election will narrow the 11 candidates to six, who will then battle for three seats on the council in the April general election.

A small group of residents failed to get enough signatures to hold an advisory referendum in April that would have polled Elgin voters on whether they believe the city should enroll in a federal program that trains local police as immigration officers.

With that question out, Bennett said he believes he may be the barometer of where residents stand as far as illegal immigration because he says he is the only candidate who will take a stand on the issue.

Other candidates disagreed, and Michael Powers said many of the residents he has spoken to have not said that immigration problems are their leading concerns.

“I see the value of local officials helping to enforce current federal law, and when that law changes — which I think it will — we will enforce the new law,” Powers said.

Incumbents David Kaptain, Brenda Rodgers and Tom Sandor and challengers John Steffen, Tricia Dieringer and Hidayat Khan agree the issue is primarily a federal one. The group believes the city should continue to enforce illegal immigration as it has, which has resulted in the deportation of more than 800 illegal immigrants who were charged in Elgin with felonies or who were known gang members.

“We have been doing it for over 15 years,” Sandor said. “(U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has already told us they won’t take more than what we are already sending them.”

Besides pressuring the federal government, Bennett could not give any explanation as to what he would do with the people arrested for being here illegally if the federal government refused to detain them.

Kaptain said he believes he and the entire community could use some education on what exactly the federal 287(g) program entails. Kaptain said not everyone identified as an illegal immigrant should be deported, but enforcement possibly should include more than just felons and gang members.

“I don’t want to go out and deport somebody because they tipped back too many Coronas on a Friday night,” Kaptain said. “But if that person has been arrested five times for the same offense, I think we should look at that.”

Candidates Lorrie Vargas and Shane Nowak said they would be in favor of some city police officers receiving training in the 287(g) program. Both agreed that if someone is here illegally and is arrested for any crime, he should face deportation.

But they do not go as far as Bennett to say that everyone in the country illegally should be forced to leave.

“I’m all for immigration into this country, but you have to know who is coming in,” Nowak said.

Challenger Greg Schock said he believes the city should continue to deport those people who have committed serious crimes, but he is against anyone — including the federal government — increasing deportation enforcement.

“These aren’t bad people,” Schock said. “These are good people who are trying to better themselves like all of us are. The strength of our country comes from us having a lot of different people here.”

Everyone likes to say it is a Federal problem, is not the government us? Be it Federal, legislative, or Judicial or whatever? How can they say it is a federal problem when it is in our towns and cities, these people come, it is our jobs they are taking, our hospitals that are closing their doors, our tax dollars taking care of them,so then I say it must be that "We" are the Federal, If we don't do something our selves then we are the ones that our losing out not the Federal, I am beginning to think that "Federal" is just a state of mind. kinda like the City of Oz!

The big point that activists are missing regarding both the legal immigrants and the illegal aliens is their failure to have adequately directed their funds
toward acquisition of productive assets in their home countries.
If their remittances were spent to acquire such assets instead of on consumption and on their
bringing of friends and family here there would be an increase in income where they came from. That would cause the number of migrants to decline. Both sides ours and theirs the pro amnesty should be doing this.

Other candidates disagreed, and Michael Powers said many of the residents he has spoken to have not said that immigration problems are their leading concerns

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well looks like we need to contact some of these people


Sounds like Bennett can do alot for the city of Elgin