As undocumented Lake County residents and their families begin to worry about deportations promised by President-elect Donald Trump, some local officials are pledging not to be part of the effort.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said the Illinois Trust Act prevents law enforcement agencies within the state from assisting with the application of federal law, including immigration regulations.
“It prohibits local law enforcement from participating in federal immigration law enforcement,” Rinehart said.
Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor, who is an immigrant herself coming to the U.S. from England as a young child, made it clear the Waukegan Police Department will not help officers from Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or any other such agency.
“We are not getting involved,” Taylor said. “I won’t even have a conversation about it. It is not in our wheelhouse, and we don’t have the resources. We want everyone in our community to trust in that.”
Taylor and Rinehart made their comments during a meeting of the Waukegan Intergovernmental Committee Thursday at the College of Lake County’s Lakeshore Campus held in response to communitywide concerns about potential deportations after Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
Rinehart said law enforcement officers like the Waukegan police and others in the county are not charged with immigration enforcement. It is federal law handled by U.S. government officials. Local officers cannot use immigration status to hold a suspected lawbreaker.
“Law enforcement (locally) cannot arrest or detain solely because of immigration status,” he said. “If police make an arrest, they cannot make a transfer to ICE.”
Dulce Ortiz, the executive director of Mano a Mano Family Resource Center — which assists immigrants — and a Waukegan Township trustee, said people should be concerned about comments Trump has made about deporting people who are here illegally.
“We have to take what Trump says very seriously,” Ortiz said. “This isn’t just rhetoric. They are using this to deport Black and Brown people. We saw ICE use deceptive practices in 2019, and they will absolutely use deceptive practices again.”
Several people, including Waukegan Ald. Lynn Florian, 8th Ward, expressed concern about citizens being deported. Ortiz said Trump’s designated “border czar,” Tom Homan said if an individual is targeted for deportation because of criminal activity, the whole family could go.
Some immigrant families in the area are what Ortiz calls “mixed households.” Some family members are citizens, while others are legal residents. Others are undocumented. Carolina Fabian, a Waukegan Community Unit School District Board of Education member, said local officials need a plan.
“The children have to know what to do if they come home from school and their mother and father aren’t there,” Fabian said at the meeting. “There is already a lot of trauma, and they have to know what to do, who to call.”
District 60 Board of Education President Brandon Ewing said at the meeting said the district recently reaffirmed its safe-haven resolution, letting families know the school is a safe environment. Superintendent Theresa Plascencia reinforced that in an email Tuesday.
“We want to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to ensuring that all our schools remain a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for every child and family regardless of immigration status,” Plascencia said in the email. “We are here to provide support and resources as needed.”
Along with its regular services to the county’s immigrant community, Joanna Jaimes, Mano a Mano’s engaged citizens program manager, said the organization is offering Know Your Rights classes to help families understand how to navigate the system regardless of their status.
“Our goal is to educate,” Jaimes said. “We talk about (potential) situations and role-play it. People can talk about what concerns them.”
