The fine folks in Libertyville are at it again.
A few months ago, residents stopped development of a single-family subdivision on property owned by the Chicago Archdiocese at Butterfield and Winchester roads. Homeowners in the affected area cited traffic congestion and adding more kids to the schools to persuade village officials to deny the plans.
Such opposition to development is what’s considered “not in my back yard” but is really “I’ve got mine, leave me alone.”
Last week, a Libertyville Village Board committee heard residents argue against naming the town a “sanctuary city.” That is if the resolution goes further, which is quite doubtful. Actually, it would be a “sanctuary village” because the onetime county seat is an incorporated village of about 20,000 souls.
Elected officials in Lake County communities seem like deer caught in headlights when residents come forward seeking to turn their towns into sanctuary municipalities. They don’t know which way to run — into or away from the lights. Or just stand there waiting.
Sanctuary cities, of course, are where immigrants in the country without legal permission can live without fear of being turned over to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents by local police. Throughout the U.S., calls for sanctuary status are growing as President Trump continues his drive to deport the estimated 11 million people living in America without legal status.
Despite tough talk throughout Illinois about resisting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, few sanctuary communities exist in the Land of Lincoln. As of April, those were Carbondale, Champaign County, Chicago, Cicero, Cook County, Urbana, Oak Park and Evanston.
The two counties and six cities could face the loss of federal funding as presidential henchmen in the Justice Department act on warnings to withhold Uncle Sam’s money if local law enforcement fails to cooperate with their federal counterparts when discovering immigrants in the U.S. without legal permission.
The sanctuary list won’t include Libertyville any time soon, although a group of residents approached officials more than a month ago to declare the village a safe haven community.
That action, in turn, brought out townspeople who stormed the Village Board’s Special Projects Committee to tell the panel’s members in no uncertain terms they don’t want to side with immigrants who are in danger of being deported to their native lands. These same residents aren’t even sure they want officials to adhere to the “welcoming and inclusive pledge” — also dubbed the “snowflake clause” in certain circles — adopted in February at the Lake County Inclusiveness Summit.
The “inclusive pledge” lays out a mandate to Lake County towns to “promote core” American values, rejecting the notion, once again in some circles, that people should be targeted on “racial, ethnic, color, immigration or refugee status, religion or creed, gender or sexual orientation, age, mental or physical disability, veteran status or other social identities.” That pledge just about covers the gamut of constitutional amendments, excepting the 21st, which repealed the 18th — Prohibition.
Opposition to the “inclusive pledge” is an odd stance in a community named Libertyville, which began its life as Independence Grove. Indeed, some present at last week’s committee meeting urged village officials to identify immigrants here without legal permission.
So, it will be interesting May 23 when the full Village Board takes up a watered-down draft statement recommended by the Special Projects Committee and what type of crowd will be on hand trying to persuade Libertyville trustees to resist Trump edicts, avoid the immigration fight altogether or stay in their neutral corner.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
Twitter @sellenews
