An ordinance that would establish Elgin as a “Welcoming City” will be created by the city attorney for review by the Elgin City Council in January.
Proposed by Elgin City Council members Corey Dixon and Diana Alfaro for the sake of discussion, the ordinance would emphasize inclusivity for all community members regardless of their immigration status.
“I think this is a way for our community to take a step forward. Personally, I think this is something we should’ve done a long time ago,” Alfaro said.
Elgin has already approved two resolutions in response to the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement efforts in the city, particularly those that occurred during Operation Midway Blitz. One urged state and federal legislators to ban ICE agents from wearing masks and the other created ICE-free zones on city-owned property.
The state of Illinois also has several laws in place, including the TRUST Act, which limits state and local law enforcement involvement in federal immigration enforcement.
“A ‘Welcoming City’ ordinance does not work against the existing things we have done,” Dixon said. “It acts as an umbrella.”
Welcoming City ordinances have been around since the 1980s in Illinois, he said. Chicago passed one this year and Evanston updated and expanded its version.
According to the ACLU Washington, the terms “welcoming city” and “sanctuary city” are used interchangeably, but there is no legal meaning or definition for either. Generally, the concept is a municipality will not ask about immigration status, limits cooperation with ICE, and provides outreach and services to immigrants, according to the Illinois Coalition for Immigration and Refugee Rights’ website.
Dixon said the ordinance doesn’t need to be called “Welcoming City,” but the concept would be the same. He’d like to see the ordinance include policies on providing translators at meetings, for example.
“This is something I think is important to make sure we have it in the law that this is how we as a community define our way of doing things and how we support our immigrant community,” Alfaro said.
Councilman Anthony Ortiz said he was opposed to the idea, maintaining it is unnecessary because Elgin is already a welcoming city.
“We are already living the values people are asking us to adopt,” Ortiz said. “Elgin welcomes everybody and we do not discriminate.”
The Elgin Police Department, for example, provides many events that embrace the entire community, he said.
Beyond that, Ortiz said he is worried that taking such an action will make Elgin “a bigger target” for ICE.
“I truly believe it could cause more harm than good,” Ortiz said. “I know this may be disappointing for some of you to hear.”
Even before the council members had a chance to share their thoughts, he made a motion to table the discussion indefinitely, seconded by Councilwoman Rose Martinez. Audience members booed his action, and ultimately it was not voted on.
“I think it’s too early to start picking apart something we don’t have in front of us in a concrete form,” Councilman John Steffen said. His request for a draft ordinance drew audience applause.
“How does this put us, as a community, at a bigger risk of being a target, for lack of a better term, than what we passed a few weeks ago,” Councilwoman Tish Powell said.
Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was in Elgin for a detention raid in which four people were taken into custody. Two were later identified as U.S. citizens and released.
ICE escalated its operations in Elgin during Operation Midway Blitz and has continued to keep picking up residents it believes to be in violation of immigration laws, Powell said.
“I’m definitely in favor of seeing something come forward. I’m not of the mind that we need to back down because it will bring more scrutiny or retaliation on us because it’s already happening,” she said.
Three council members, Dustin Good, Steve Thoren, and Martinez, said they were hesitant or opposed to the ordinance idea.
Thoren said he won’t support it because leaders in the Hispanic community say they are opposed.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
