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OUTLOOK 2007: CURBS ON IMMIGRATION

Voters could shatter legal lull
Local election could revive illegal-immigration debate as Carpentersville awaits a court ruling

By John Keilman
Tribune staff reporter

December 28, 2006

After three months of turmoil, efforts to curb illegal immigration in Carpentersville appear to be stalled for the foreseeable future, dependent on the slow grind of justice in a distant courtroom.

But that may just shift the debate from Village Hall to the voting booth when three trustees come up for election in April. The results could be enough to revive the measures--or to ensure their defeat for good.

"I know it's going to turn out some people who normally were complacent and sitting at home," said Village President Bill Sarto, who has opposed the suggested rules. "I would anticipate that there's going to be new voters on both sides of this issue."

The subject came to a quick boil in September when Trustees Paul Humpfer and Judy Sigwalt proposed ordinances to punish employers for giving jobs to undocumented immigrants and to fine landlords for renting to them.

The officials said the measures were needed because illegal immigrants were responsible for unpaid ambulance bills and overcrowding in some apartments, though they did not document those claims.

When Humpfer and Sigwalt tried to introduce their proposals, a crowd of 3,000, most in opposition, massed around Village Hall, causing the discussion to be delayed. A majority of the board later voted to postpone the discussion again, until a legal fight on similar measures in Hazleton, Pa., is concluded.

That could be a long time coming. Kris Kobach, a Missouri law professor retained by Hazleton, said the battle is in its early stages.

Any decision by the federal court hearing the case in Pennsylvania, he said, "will almost certainly be appealed to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals."

"It is also an issue that is relatively likely to be of interest to the Supreme Court," Kobach said.

"We're talking a minimum of a year and potentially 2 1/2 years if it goes to the Supreme Court. ... If the folks in Carpentersville are expecting a quick answer from the courts regarding Hazleton, they should not hold their breath."

He added, though, that while many towns are waiting to see what happens with Hazleton before moving forward with their own ordinances, others are implementing them anyway without facing lawsuits.

Such a move is unlikely in Carpentersville, Sarto said.

"I think we have four solid votes to keep it tabled, so I think it's going to remain tabled until we hear from Hazleton," he said.

That could change in April.

Humpfer and Sigwalt are up for election, along with Jim Frost, who voted with the majority to table the proposed ordinance.

Sigwalt said she has heard of five candidates who might be in the running, including some who might tip the balance in favor of the proposals.

Instead of counting on that, she said she has shifted her focus to a local organization that wants to stamp out unlawful entry into the country.

Fox Valley Citizens for Legal Immigration, which tried unsuccessfully last month to lure Sarto to debate the issue, has become a megaphone for those fed up with the status quo, she said.

"If enough of our voices are heard, Washington has got to act on this," she said. "That is what I'd like to see. I'd like this country to come together."

But Sarto said the debate in Carpentersville has had the opposite effect.

"I do feel a sense of some concern, some feelings of animosity toward each other," he said. "Some Caucasians in Hispanic neighborhoods are feeling cautious, and some Hispanics are feeling likewise, that they're being singled out.

"It's been very divisive. It's not been a healthy thing for the village."