McHenry County immigration debate going public
By Charles Keeshan

ckeeshan@dailyherald.com
Posted Monday, August 20, 2007


While the battle over illegal immigration has raged in the streets of Chicago and suburban communities like Carpentersville and Waukegan, McHenry County has managed to avoid heated showdowns over the issue.

That could change Saturday.

That’s when the Illinois Minuteman Project, an anti-illegal immigration organization labeled a hate group by critics, will host a seminar at the Holiday Inn Crystal Lake. It will feature an Ohio sheriff whose efforts to deport people in his county unlawfully has drawn national attention.

At least three groups are planning counter-demonstrations, including one that in a recent pronouncement likened the Minuteman Project to the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi extremists.

Both sides say they want a civil discussion of the immigration issue, but given their passion and a history of minor skirmishes elsewhere, Crystal Lake police say they are taking no chances Saturday.

“We will have enough of a presence to ensure that the safety and the rights of everyone there are guarded,â€