Minutemen give Elgin heat over illegal immigrants
BY ADAM KOVAC
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Wednesday, July 12, 2006



A group of local immigration activists publicly blasted the Elgin City Council Wednesday, saying the city's police force was not taking steps to crack down on illegal residents.

Members of the Elgin Minuteman Project also said city leaders have ignored requests to discuss the issue, which in recent months has drawn Elgin into the national immigration debate.As a result of the criticism, Elgin Mayor Ed Schock said the council on July 26 could be briefed on police efforts against illegal residents who commit crimes and how officers work with federal agencies on immigration enforcement.

"I think there's a frustration, not only here but nationally," Schock said of the Minutemen, who called Elgin a sanctuary for illegal residents. "I think what you're hearing is that frustration."

Last November, Elgin's east side was the site of a tense immigration debate - riot police were there to keep it peaceful - over the evolving face of Elgin and a flap over the playing of Mexico's national anthem at Larkin High School.

Elgin a few months later told the group they would have to pay for extra security in order to use the city-owned Centre of Elgin for another visit.

Wednesday night, four Minuteman activists spoke out before the city council began its agenda, citing a handful of recent local crashes and crimes that police have said involved illegal immigrants.

Doug Heaton said he wants Elgin police to operate more closely with federal agencies, who have authority over immigration violations.

"I don't want them rounding up the foreigners," said Heaton. "But if they've got somebody, I want them to find out if they're supposed to be here or not."

Elgin Police Chief Lisa Womack said city officers already work closely with federal police agencies, largely because there is no local authority which grants Elgin police the power to enforce immigration laws.

And although Elgin police don't request a check of immigration records when, for example, they make a traffic stop, they typically do when they make an arrest, she said.

In the last 15 years, Elgin police played a role in the deportation of about 800 illegal residents who committed crimes in the city, Womack said.

"Elgin does every bit as much as the border states, and they have taken illegal immigration seriously for years," she added.


akovac@dailyherald.com



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